Vol. 99 Iss 21

THE TEMPLE NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019

CARIBBEAN CULTURES ON CAMPUS Students and faculty from countries in the Caribbean share how other parts of their identities intersect with these cultures.

Read more on Pages 17-20

WHAT’S INSIDE NEWS, PAGE 2 Temple Student Government’s Elections Committee updated the election code ahead of campaign season.

SPORTS, PAGE 21 A Temple men’s basketball guard and bench player has become a reliable player on the court.

BAR GUIDE 2020 100 years since Prohibition

VOL 99 // ISSUE 21 FEB. 25, 2020

Pages B1- B8 temple-news.com @thetemplenews

NEWS PAGE 2

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

THE TEMPLE NEWS A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

Kelly Brennan Editor in Chief Pavlína Černá Managing Editor Rjaa Ahmed Digital Managing Editor Francesca Furey Chief Copy Editor Colin Evans News Editor Hal Conte Assistant News Editor Valerie Dowret Assistant News Editor Web Tyler Perez Opinion Editor Madison Karas Features Editor Bibiana Correa Assistant Features Editor Ayooluwa Ariyo Asst. Features Editor Web Jay Neemeyer Sports Editor Dante Collinelli Assistant Sports Editor Alex McGinley Assistant Sports Editor Web Nico Cisneros Intersection Editor Rayonna Hobbs Asst. Intersection Editor Magdalena Becker Asst. Intersection Editor Michael Moscarelli Dir. of Engagement Jeremy Elvas Photography Editor Claudia Salvato Asst. Photography Editor Erik Coombs Multimedia Editor Ingrid Slater Design Editor Nicole Hwang Designer Phuong Tran Advertising Manager Kelsey McGill Advertising Manager Lubin Park Business Manager

The Temple News is an editorially independent weekly publication serving the Temple University community.

Unsigned editorial content represents the opinion of The Temple News.

Adjacent commentary is reflective of their authors, not The Temple News.

Visit us online at temple-news.com.

Send submissions to letters@temple-news.com.

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

ON THE COVER JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Ariel Keen, a junior psychology major and a bisexual Jamaican woman, stands in the Johnny Ring Garden on Feb. 23.

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 Kelly Brennan at editor@temple-news.com or 215-204-6736.

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TSG

Elections Committee lowers spending caps The committee also clarified how violations of the election code will be enforced.

BY COLIN EVANS News Editor

T

emple Student Government’s election season is fast approaching, with applications to run for a position in the executive branch or a seat in Parliament due tomorrow.

The Elections Committee has made two changes to the elections code since last year. The first intends to make the election more “inclusive” by lowering campaign spending caps, said Rofiat Oseni, TSG’s chief judge.

The second clarifies the consequences for campaigns that violate the election code.

As TSG’s chief judge, Oseni is in charge of managing the Ethics Board and chairing the Constitutionality Council, according to TSG’s constitution.

The Elections Committee lowered spending caps from $1,000 to $500 for the executive teams and from $500 to $300 for Parliament campaigns, Oseni said.

“We want to make sure we get a lot of people running,” Oseni said.

“We want to be as inclusive as possible.”

Students who are campaigning raise their own money in accordance with the spending cap and are reimbursed a portion of what they spend, said Woayorm Kumazah, TSG’s elections commissioner. The Elections Committee has not yet decided what proportion of campaign funds TSG will reimburse this year, Kumazah added.

There is a sense that more people will be running in the elections this year, which Oseni attributes to both the decrease in the spending

caps and increased outreach by TSG to students informing them of the election process, she said.

“Having the caps be so high made it so that people who weren’t as financially fortunate wouldn’t be able to compete in the election process,” Kumazah said.

Throughout the academic year, the Elections Committee reorganized and rewrote most of the elections code to make it less confusing, Kumazah said.

Last year, TSG’s elections code was vague about which punishments corresponded to different violations of the code, Oseni said. This year, the code defines violations in three different classes, each class with an increasing severity that corresponds with the seriousness of the violation.

Violations, like campaigning before the official start date or failing to appear before the Elections Committee during scheduled meetings, would earn a three-day suspension, whereas violations, like exceeding campaign spending limits or breaking the student code of conduct, would disqualify a campaign, according to the code.

Campaigns will kick off on March 16. Here are the other key dates in this year’s elections: 1st Executive Team Debate: March 26 Parliament Debate: March 30 2nd Executive Team Debate: April 6 Voting Days: April 7 and 8 colin.evans@temple.edu @colinpaulevans

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NEWS PAGE 3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

SUSTAINABILITY

University’s greenhouse gas output on the rise Temple has increased its building space by approximately 32 percent since fiscal year 2006.

BY ANGELA SCHNEIDER For The Temple News As Temple University continues to construct new buildings and add students, the university’s greenhouse gas emissions are increasing and the proportion of students, faculty and staff who use public transit is on the decline.

After declining from fiscal years 2006-12, emissions have steadily risen to nearly matching their 2006 level at approximately 212,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to data from the Office of Sustainability.

Though carbon emissions per square foot have declined since fiscal year 2006, Temple’s total square footage has increased by approximately 32 percent since then, according to the data.

Starting with Temple’s Medical Education and Research Building, which was completed in 2013, every new building on Temple’s campus has been required to earn at least LEED Silver designation, said Rebecca Collins, director of the Office of Sustainability. LEED is a third-party sustainability certification program, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

But, to decrease emissions, it is just as important to increase the use of renewable energy as it is to make buildings more energy efficient, Collins said.

“We have to start considering emission reductions from sourcing in order to meet our carbon emissions goals,” Collins said.

The university’s most recent Transportation Survey Audit Report shows that the percentage of students, faculty and staff using some form of public transportation while commuting each week decreased by approximately 9 percent from 2016-19.

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Temple students, faculty and staff commuted an average of 21.9 miles by car to campus in 2019.

The university cannot necessarily control students commuting longer distances, Collins said.

“But I think what our role in the office is to talk about or provide resources for students that are promoting these lower-emissions types of transportation,” Collins said.

In April 2019, the university’s Climate Action Plan set a benchmark of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, The Temple News reported.

In order to achieve its goal, the university is seeking to partner with an outside renewable energy provider to power campus operations. Temple wants to glean up to 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources, Collins said.

The university is currently reviewing proposals from a range of providers, Collins said. Although no official timeline has been set yet, Temple could finish reviewing proposals in the next two months, after which it would determine which provider or combination of providers to select, Collins said.

Temple has begun to switch to more environmentally friendly lighting and replace old heating sources with programmable thermostats, Collins said.

The university is currently testing the use of smart strips and plug load management systems in several buildings on campus to ease the energy load created by devices plugged into wall outlets, she added.

Briana Codio, a freshman nursing major, said that with all the technology the university uses to construct its new buildings, it is “obvious” that greenhouse gas emissions are increasing.

“So are they, like, reasonably building, or exceeding the amount,” Codio asked.

JULIA LARMA / THE TEMPLE NEWS Rebecca Collins, director of the Office of Sustainability, talks about Temple’s climate action plan in the Student Center on Feb. 7.

JULIA LARMA / THE TEMPLE NEWS Temple’s Office of Sustainability is reviewing proposals for outside renewable energy providers to power campus operations as part of Temple’s Climate Action Plan.

angela.schneider@temple.edu

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NEWS

PAGE 5

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

RESEARCH

CBD-like molecule could lower pain from chemo A Temple professor is collaborating with a biopharmaceutical company on the research.

BY VICTORIA AYALA For The Temple News Recently released research from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine suggests that a cannabidiol-like molecule may be effective at treating pain resulting from chemotherapy.

A research team led by Sara Jane Ward, a professor of pharmacology, found certain applications of KLS-13019, a molecule developed by KannaLife Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, might reverse pain from chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, or CIPN. The research, funded by an approximate $300,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Drug Abuse, was published on Feb. 11.

So far, studies have shown that KLS-13019 is effective in preventing and reversing pain resulting from CIPN, differentiating it from CBD, Ward said.

But there are many more studies that need to be conducted with KLS-13019 to determine if it could be a potential drug candidate and whether the compound can be brought into human clinical trials, she added.

CBD is derived from hemp, a cousin of the marijuana plant, and is commonly used to treat anxiety, according to the Harvard Health Blog.

Ward, an expert in animal studies, began researching whether CBD could prevent or reverse the effects of CIPN, a condition that causes pain in patients receiving chemotherapy in 2010. In studies, CBD has demonstrated it can prevent pain resulting from CIPN from occur-

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ring, but has yet to prove it can reverse it, Ward said. Additionally, because CBD has many effects on the human body and is difficult to deliver through a pill, it is challenging to study, she added.

“Traditionally, as researchers, we’re sort of trained to look for what’s the one thing that this compound is doing, so CBD presents a challenge in that regard because I could list about 20 different things that we know it does in the body,” she said.

William Kinney, a medicinal chemist and chief scientific officer at KannaLife, suggested redesigning and patenting CBD, leading to the creation of KLS13019.

With the completion of the first phase of research, plans for a second phase are in progress, Ward said. The focus of the next round of research would be examining how safe KLS-13019 is for humans, she added.

“A lot of studies need to be done to determine that KLS-13019 is safe because the Phase 2 studies are really setting up for moving into clinical trials,” Ward said.

Ward will present her findings at the upcoming International Cannabinoid Research Society meeting in July.

Douglas Brenneman, a neuropharmacologist and a member of KannaLife’s Scientific Advisory Board, is working on fine-tuning the molecule, he said.

As studies on CBD and KLS-13019 progress, the hope, in the end, is to have an effective non-opioid treatment option for CIPN and, potentially, other medical needs, Brenneman said.

“We potentially have a solution here for pain management, and time will tell, but I think we might be onto something,” said Thomas Kikis, KannaLife’s founder. victoria.ayala@temple.edu

KANNALIFE SCIENCES / COURTESY Dr. Douglas Brenneman, a neuropharmacologist and a member of KannaLife’s Scientific Advisory Board, sits in the KannaLife Sciences lab in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

KANNALIFE SCIENCES / COURTESY KannaLife Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, is collaborating with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine in researching the effectiveness of a KLS-13019, a cannabidiol-like molecule, in treating chemotherapy-induced neuropathy.

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NEWS PAGE 6

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

RESEARCH

U.S. gov’t to ask students about food insecurity Temple’s Hope Center success- at four-year colleges said they worried fully pushed for questions to be whether their food would run out before they got money to buy more. added to a nationwide survey.

BY COLIN EVANS News Editor For the first time in its 33-year history, the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study will ask students about food insecurity in a report slated to be released in 2022.

From March to November, the NPSAS will ask 150,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 3,000 colleges and universities questions about their ability to buy food, according to the National Center for Education Statistics wrote in an email to The Temple News.

The decision comes amid a growing movement to recognize food insecurity as a pressing issue among college students, spurred by the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s finding of “increasing evidence” that some college students were experiencing food insecurity that could harm their academic success, according to a 2018 report.

“Having the data available in a very publicly facing and mainstream way is a crucial first step to create change,” said Liz Looker, a senior research project manager at the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice, a Temple-based research hub focused on basic needs security among college students.

Since they began researching basic needs insecurity, the Hope Center has advocated for the federal government to gather data on food insecurity among college students.

“The Hope Center created the #Real College survey to fill a knowledge gap: no government agency — at either the federal or state level — collects information on the security of students’ basic needs,” wrote the #RealCollege Survey’s six authors.

In 2019, 39 percent of respondents to the #RealCollege Survey indicated they were food insecure in the past 30 days. More than onethird of students News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

The NCES added questions about the topic to the NPSAS, which is conducted every four years, after receiving inquiries from The Hope Center, the Department of Education and other groups, according to the NCES. “Through the outreach of these groups, NCES realized that this was becoming an increasingly important topic for policymakers and researchers and should be included in NPSAS,” according to the NCES. NPSAS will provide a nationally representative rate of food insecurity, Looker said.

The questions will ask students if they have ever skipped meals because there was not enough money for food, if they can afford to eat balanced meals or if they lost weight because there was not enough money for food, among other questions, according to the NCES. While NPSAS does not directly impact federal funding for universities, it is used to help policymakers better understand how the federal government invests in students’ postsecondary education, according to the NCES. Ava Doskicz, a sophomore advertising major, said having a national survey conducted will help students be less intimidated to talk about their own struggles with food insecurity.

“It’s a good conversation to have and be open about because I feel like a lot of people sometimes are not comfortable talking about what they can afford and what they can’t afford,” Doskicz said.

Gloria Kammer, a sophomore health professions major, said the survey will help the government better understand how to help students.

“That’s one of the most basic human needs, is food and water and shelter,” Kammer said. “If people can’t even get those, then how could they be expected to get an education?” colin.evans@temple.edu @colinpaulevans

39%

of college students faced food insecurity in 2019

Source: The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice

NATIONAL POSTSECONDARY

STUDENT AID STUDY For these statements, please indicate whether the statement was often true, sometimes true, or never true for you in the last 30 days.

I worried whether my food would run out before I got money to buy more.

1 = Often true 2 = Sometimes true 3 = Never true The food I bought just didn’t last, and I didn’t have money to get more.

1 = Often true 2 = Sometimes true 3 = Never true

Source: National Postsecondary Student Aid Study

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NEWS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

PAGE 7

COMMUNITY

Affordable housing community to be renovated Upgrades to the Yorktown Arms Apartments on Jefferson Street near 13th could start in 2021.

BY COLIN EVANS News Editor When he needed to move out of his house on 12th Street near Thompson, John Bowie made sure he stayed in Yorktown.

Bowie, 64, lived with his aunt in Yorktown for approximately 15 years before she needed to move to a nursing home, he said. In 2017, he moved to an apartment in Yorktown Arms Apartments, an affordable housing community for seniors that is set to be renovated as early as next year, thanks to a city grant.

Yorktown Arms, located on Jefferson Street near 13th, will undergo a “long overdue” renovation of most of its apartments and some common areas, said Jacob Peck, vice president of the Yorktown Community Development Corporation.

The planned renovation will include replacing appliances, like washing machines and air conditioning units, as well as making improvements to accessibility in apartment bathrooms, Peck said. The Yorktown CDC hopes to make the building’s lighting and water systems more energy efficient, he added.

Part of the 93-apartment building was built in the late ‘90s, and many appliances and fixtures in the apartments are nearing the end of their lives, Peck said.

The other part, built in the mid-2000s, will be renovated later, he added.

“That’s a lot of capital expenditures, things that need to be rehabbed just so that we can preserve the building and continue to offer affordable housing to residents,” Peck said.

The project was made possible by a grant from the city’s Division of Housing and Community Development the Yorktown CDC received last fall, Peck

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COLIN EVANS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Yorktown Arms Apartments, an affordable housing community for seniors on Jefferson Street near 13th, will undergo a renovation to some of its apartments and common areas as early as next year.

said. The grant amount will not be announced until a cost assessment of the project is completed, but Peck expects the grant to cover 50-60 percent of the project’s cost, he said.

Construction could begin in 2021, Peck said. The project will take approximately six months to complete, he added.

To live in Yorktown Arms, residents must be at least 60 years old and make between 40 and 60 percent of the area’s median household income, as determined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Peck said.

Approximately 100 residents live in

the apartments, Peck said. Current residents are a mix of newcomers and longtime Yorktown residents who want to remain in the community, he added.

“A lot of our residents, a lot of Yorktown homeowners, when they become a certain age, they tend to come and move into the Yorktown Arms Apartments,” Peck said. “So that’s a really major part of the community.”

State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, whose district encompasses Main Campus, said he has benefitted from having his district office across the street from Yorktown Arms Apartments.

“I mean, the folks who live at Yorktown Arms are some of the most involved, engaged folks who have such deep ties, great wisdom,” Kenyatta said.

Yorktown Arms, with its easy access to transportation and historically Black churches, is a “goldmine” for African-American seniors who want to live comfortably, Bowie said.

“The neighborhood has changed dramatically, but it’s still important to be able to age in place here in North Philly,” Bowie added. colin.evans@temple.edu @colinpaulevans

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OPINION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

PAGE 8

HEALTH EDITORIAL

Survey takes necessary steps

This year marks the first time in the 33-year-long history of the National Postsecondary Aid Study that students will be asked questions that help identify whether someone is food insecure, The Temple News reported.

The study, which will be conducted between March and November of this year, polls about 150,000 undergraduate and graduate students across 3,000 institutions on how they finance their education, including demographics, family circumstances, education and work experience and more, according to the Institute of Education Sciences.

This information can be used to inform policymakers and government officials when making education policy decisions, and by including food insecurity into this calculation, the NPSAS is collecting a more representative sample of students’ actual financial issues.

Approximately 39 percent of college students experience food insecurity, according to the #Real College Survey by the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice, a research hub at Temple University that focuses on basic

needs insecurity among college students.

The Editorial Board commends the Hope Center consistently pushing for more people to understand how food insecurity affects college students.

We are very enthusiastic about this change made to the NPSAS, and we see it as a step toward fighting economic disparity among college students.

We are interested to see the results of this report when they are released in 2022, and we implore our representatives, legislators and other government officials to use the information of this report to inform their policies.

One in three college students experience food insecurity — that’s a terrifying statistic to consider, and this effort to measure this issue is long overdue. But the Editorial Board is hopeful that this report will provide a necessary conversation to open the door for more progressive education policy changes.

Editor’s Note: News Editor Colin Evans, who reported the accompanying news story, did not write or edit this editorial.

Read the second editorial online:

TSG: Eliminate all campaign spending www.temple-news.com Editor’s Note: News Editor Colin Evans, who reported the accompanying news story, did not write or edit this editorial.

letters@temple-news.com

Don’t forget flu presence In Philadelphia, 840 were hospitalized Amid growing coronavirus concerns, and 16 died as of Feb. 24, according to the it is essential to learn the symptoms Philadelphia Department of Health. of the flu and how it spreads.

N

ews of COVID-19, known as the coronavirus, is increasing in media coverage. But any word of influenza, one of the biggest killers in history, is old news.

CHRISTINA The flu, an annual MITCHELL epidemic, is more prevHEALTH BEAT COLUMNIST alent and dangerous in the United States than coronavirus. Coronavirus is a serious issue, but influenza is more of a direct threat to the health of Pennsylvanians.

We must be aware of the flu and protect ourselves from contracting and spreading it.

The flu is a highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, muscle pain, headaches, fatigue and more.

Kathryn Reinert, a junior theater major, recalled when she realized she had the flu.

“My head started getting fuzzy and dizzy,” Reinert said. “I spent the next two days unable to move more than a few feet from my bed without feeling so sick that I was just going to collapse.”

Reinert had the flu for nearly two weeks and was told not to attend class, she said.

Katie Page, a sophomore economics major, also caught the flu earlier in the semester.

“I think I got it the first time during rush week because a lot of the girls in the sorority I got into ended up having it, so I think it ended up spreading around that way,” Page said.

“It started off as a persistent cough and then body aches, chills and a low grade fever. I was also super congested for most of it.”

So far this flu season, which began approximately in October, there have been 29 million confirmed cases in the U.S., including 280,000 hospitalizations and 16,000 deaths, according to a Feb. 15 report by the CDC.

Reported cases of influenza and influenza-related illnesses at Temple University have remained steady in recent years, at about 3,300 to 3,500 cases between Oct. 1 and today, said Mark Denys, senior director of Student Health Services.

In comparison, there have been 79,000 total cases of coronavirus worldwide, CNN reported, with no cases in Pennsylvania, the Inquirer reported.

Considering how the direct threat of the flu is greater than that of the coronavirus, it is essential that we focus on vaccinations in order to reduce the spread of the flu.

Influenza vaccines are shown to reduce the risk of flu illness by as much as 40-60 percent, according to the CDC. In 2017-18, flu vaccines prevented approximately 3.2 million medical visits, 91,000 hospitalizations and 5,700 deaths, the CDC further reported.

As of Jan. 7, Temple University’s Student Health Services no longer has flu shots available for students and faculty, exceeding their limited supply of free flu vaccines, Denys said.

SHS recommends getting this vaccine from a nearby pharmacy or primary physician.

Vaccinations not only reduces the risk of contracting the flu yourself, but also protect the people around you.

College students are in more vulnerable situations by living in close contact with others and attending crowded parties where one person sneezing could potentially affect everyone within a close radius, Denys said.

Wash your hands and dress properly during the winter months, and if you start developing any flu-like symptoms, don’t shrug it off as a cold. Isolate yourself by staying home, and don’t come to class or work.

Coronavirus shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s a rapidly growing epidemic that can be fatal if left untreated. But let’s not forget the virus that affects millions of people in the U.S. each year and has one of the worst track records in the history of modern medicine. christina.mitchell@temple.edu

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OPINION PAGE 9

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020

LGBTQ

Decrease high legal costs of gender name changes The cost of changing one’s name is significant, posing a threat to the transgender community.

While scrolling through Facebook one day, I came across a video of an 18-yearold transgender man whose friends at school surprised him with enough money KELLY THOMPSON to legally change his FOR THE TEMPLE name. As I watched NEWS him cry and hug his friends, I smiled and felt hopeful for the future, but I couldn’t help but wonder how much his friends had collected.

I learned that changing one’s name requires a significant amount of money, with the exact amount varying by county. Philadelphia County charges $388 to file a name change petition, according to the Philadelphia Court System.

The cost to change one’s name is absurdly high, and that financial barrier needs to be lowered, especially considering the fact that legally changing one’s name can be a crucial part of the process of gender transition and of eliminating gender dysphoria, which Planned Parenthood defines as “the distress, unhappiness, and anxiety that transgender people may feel about the mismatch between their bodies and their gender identity.”

“There’s this person that I pretended to be for many, many years,” said Rebecca Zalkin, a freshman mathematics major. “I think I chose to change my name because I didn’t want to be seen as that person anymore.”

On top of this financial burden, the protocol for changing one’s name is long, complicated and potentially dangerous for transgender individuals.

“The process itself is sort of insane,” said Bucky Baker, a sophomore public health major and president of Students for Trans Awareness and Rights. “It’s

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JACLYN ROSENZWEIG / THE TEMPLE NEWS

just so convoluted and complicated, and you can’t really do it on your own. It’s so hard to figure it out on your own without actual legal help.”

In Pennsylvania, the first step is to submit a Petition for Change of Name to the county prothonotary office, along with the aforementioned fee, according to PA Law Help, an organization providing legal help to those experiencing poverty.

Pennsylvania law requires any name change be published in two newspapers, in case someone objects to the change.

This effectively forces trans people to decide between outing themselves to the public or having a legal name incompatible with their identity.

“It’s kind of scary for privacy rea-

sons,” said Jackson Burke, a freshman fine arts major and vice president of STAR. After the change is approved, more steps and expenses follow. Copies of the paperwork need to be sent to different offices so they can update their files.

Zalkin had to spend $100 to submit their petition, along with another $120 to make multiple copies, she said.

Transgender people face a poverty rate of 29.4 percent, compared to 21.6 percent for LGBTQ people generally and the 15.7 percent for non-LGBTQ people, according to the William’s Institute’s 2019 study of LGBTQ poverty.

It’s evident that only wealthy people have the income available to pay for expensive costs that come from chang-

ing one’s name, and when a system only works for the choice few, it’s a sign that the system needs to be reformed.

A decrease in the costs of name change are important, but it’s only a bandage for a much deeper wound.

Laws that complicate the process of legally changing one’s name invalidate the identity of transgender individuals and add to a system of institutionalized transphobia. Transgender individuals should not need to pay hundreds of dollars, enter a convoluted application process and out themselves to the public in order to change their name.

These laws came about to prevent people from changing their names to avoid debt, but to compare this to transgender individuals is problematic because it implies that transgender people are trying to escape from something.

It equates a criminal trying to distance themselves for their crimes to somebody who’s become their truest, and that’s unfair.

Government officials need to recognize this and develop a simpler and less expensive process for transgender individuals by informing themselves about trans issues.

“People don’t usually change their name that often,” Jackson said. “It’s usually just when you get married. So, they’re not prepared for people who are getting it changed for other reasons.”

Students looking to change their name can seek help from the Name Change Project at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and the Mazzoni Center, an organization dedicated to LGBTQ health and well-being that provides legal advice for transgender individuals looking to change their name.

Of course, legally changing one’s name doesn’t make somebody’s presentation of their gender identity any more or less valid, but for a number of transgender individuals, it’s an essential step in the process of transitioning. kelly.thompson@temple.edu

letters@temple-news.com

OPINION PAGE 10

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

IMMIGRATION

Expanded travel ban is dangerous for Nigerians President Donald Trump barred issuing visas to people from different African countries.

I rolled my eyes when I first read the headline of a news story that started with “Trump’s expanded travel ban…”

K n o w i n g President Donald Trump’s stance on JEDIAEL PETERSON immigration, it was FOR THE TEMPLE not a complete surNEWS prise, but I didn’t expect one of those countries included in the ban to be Nigeria, my home country.

On Jan. 31, Trump announced an expansion of his travel ban that would bar issuing immigrant visas to citizens of Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan, Politico reported. Trump’s ban also prevents citizens of Sudan and Tanzania from receiving diversity immigrant visas, which provide a chance to gain green cards to individuals from countries with historically low immigration to the United States.

Beginning Feb. 22, Nigerians will no longer be able to obtain visas allowing them to immigrate to the U.S. permanently, CNN reported. While they can still travel to the U.S. temporarily, this law makes it harder for Nigerian immigrants to settle and live in the U.S. In an age of increasing immigration restrictions, the Nigerian travel ban is both surprising and expected at the same time. But the most recent expansion of the travel ban is a racist attack on people from a country that doesn’t pose a threat to the U.S., and circuit courts need to veto this executive order.

With the first version of Trump’s travel ban — which barred immigration from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and Syria, North Korea and Venezuela, CNN reported — we saw families torn apart and deported, or their visas denied in recent years. Thinking about this new, exletters@temple-news.com

Countries included in President Donald Trump’s travel ban Earlier this month, President Donald Trump expanded his travel ban to include six new countries.

NIGERIA

Scource: CNN

panded travel ban, I fear the same thing will happen.

“I was not surprised,” said Narayan Felix, a junior global studies major and vice president of Society for Emerging African Leaders. “It is expected because it’s part of the narrative that immigrants are taking our jobs, and with Nigeria making up a majority of African immigrants in the U.S., it’s easy for them to be labeled as scapegoats.”

In issuing the travel ban, Trump cited the countries’ “willingness or inability” to share sufficient information about criminal and terrorism data and to install enough electronic passport systems, Politico reported.

Nevertheless, very few individuals from those countries have attempted or committed attacks on U.S. soil in the past forty years, and therefore there is no national security justification for this ban,

according to the Cato Institute. Simply, this travel ban is unfounded and racist.

Hafeezat Bishi, a junior communications and social influence major and external liaison to Society for Emerging African Leaders, found out about the travel ban from her friend.

“My friend sent me the article, and my first reaction was ‘Are you kidding me! Why?’” Bishi said.

Nigerians constitute the largest population of African immigrants living in the U.S., according to a 2017 report by the Pew Research Center. There were 20,000 Nigerians living just in Southeastern Pennsylvania in 2019, WHYY reported.

Nigerian individuals in Philadelphia may find themselves isolated now that they can’t file for their spouses or family members to come to stay with them in the U.S.

Because of this travel ban, many Nigerian families will be torn apart by distance.

“It’s sad because a lot of Nigerians who immigrate here immigrate alone with the intent of filing for their family later on,” said Monsurat Dayo Otolorin, a senior public health major. “The fact that they can’t do that is really upsetting if they pay taxes and are citizens.”

Otolorin was hoping to bring her brother to the U.S., but she’s saddened by how this ban could affect that, she said.

Nigerian immigrants deserve to live in this country with their families and have a normal life. Restricting permanent visas to Nigerians is only going to tear families further apart and affect the different Nigerian communities in the U.S. jediael.peterson@temple.edu

temple-news.com

OPINION PAGE 11

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020

THE ESSAYIST

On anorexia, insecurities and finding my support A student shares their lifelong experience with anorexia nervosa and negative self-image.

BY LUBIN PARK Business Manager Content Warning: This story discusses eating disorders, which may be upsetting to readers.

I was in elementary school the first time I grew conscious of my weight.

I was a shy kid who played with action figures during recess and indulged in multiple chicken patties in the cafeteria.

A chubby Korean kid — who was very cute, mind you — was a jarring sight within our annual class photos. The other students shared this sentiment and naturally separated themselves from me.

That isolation manifested into a negative attitude toward my physical appearance that would follow me for the rest of my life.

I was 12 years old when I began a mandated weight loss program. It was issued by my pediatrician, who was worried about my obesity and future health risks. The rehabilitation facility was full of older clients of larger stature. It’s weird to think about a child having to be

in that space and how it influences their perception of their own bodies — it definitely didn’t help me.

But, the sessions reduced my ongoing weight gain and established exercise into my daily routine. It was the first time I felt good about my body, and I soon became obsessed with chasing that feeling.

I constructed my ideal self in my head and dedicated everything to making it a reality.

The first step was joining my middle school’s track and field club. I was under the impression that running was the quickest way to cut fat, and while it accounted for a large amount of weight loss, it wasn’t happening “fast” enough for me.

My pediatrician once told me a healthy diet was the most important part of any weight loss journey. My mind was fixated on the word “diet” and I began experimenting, spending entire days nibbling on a granola bar and oftentimes drinking water to satiate my hunger.

I didn’t realize then but I know understand that I was struggling with anorexia.

In high school, I was in ideal shape, played multiple sports, and was in my first relationship. I became my “ideal” self — or so I thought.

I fainted multiple times from malnutrition and found myself again in the hands of physicians. They couldn’t understand why I was losing consciousness so often.

And I was the only one who knew the truth.

I was actively starving myself to maintain an unsustainable lifestyle. I was willing to sacrifice my own health to “look great” because that feeling of self-confidence at 12 years old was the happiness I desired and something I was deprived of since a young age.

It took time for me to process and gain a deeper understanding of the toxic relationship I had with my body. But the most important part of my journey was establishing my first support system through my older sister.

It was the first time I spoke to anyone about my eating disorder and mental health. It was terrifying, but nevertheless, empowering. My sister became someone I could lean on and someone that would always listen to me. This was and still is the most pivotal time of my life.

It was important to find spaces that encourage vulnerability and to hold myself accountable for my own happiness because it started me on the road to educating myself on nutritional values and

healthy eating habits.

I’m currently in my fourth year at Temple University and looking forward to graduation. I’m proud of the strides I’ve made in my mental and physical health journey, but I also understand that my insecurities will be with me for the rest of my life.

On paper, that sounds terrible, but I’ve come to a realization that while I may carry “baggage,” there are places I can check them in. I started going to therapy recently, which became a place for me to unload my past and continuously move forward in life. I also have my friends who provide me with therapeutic conversations and endless bouts of laughter.

Last February, The Temple News covered National Eating Disorders Awareness Week with various students sharing their own personal experiences. I was inspired reading through them all, and I felt relieved knowing there’s a community of students like myself.

I hope this story can do the same for others. I hope we can support each other in our endeavors to find happiness — happiness self-constructed upon a healthy body and, just as important, a healthy mind. lubinkpark@temple.edu

STUDENTS EXPERIENCING EATING DISORDERS CAN SEEK HELP WITH THESE RESOURCES: Student Health Services

Tuttleman Counseling Center

The Renfrew Center

1700 N. Broad Street, 4th Floor 215-204-7500

1700 N. Broad Street, 2nd Floor 215-204-7276

1528 Walnut Street, Suite 805 1-800-736-3739

Offers a nutrition counselor who meets with students to help develop a healthy relationship with food and normalized eating.

Offers an Eating and Body Image Concerns Team that specializes in treating students with eating disorders and body image concerns.

Specializes in the treatment of anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and other similar mental illnesses using day treatment and group therapy.

@TheTempleNews

letters@temple-news.com

FEATURES PAGE 12

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

STUDENT LIFE

Hearing impairment ‘doesn’t define’ film student A student was born with a rare syndrome that causes her to experience deafness in one ear.

BY CLAIRE WOLTERS For The Temple News

“A

nd the Academy Award goes to...”

“Oh my god!” on cue, Nayeli Perez-Peralta screamed.

When South Korean thriller “Parasite” made history as the first international feature film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, many credited it for breaking down language barriers in Hollywood, AP reported.

But for Perez-Peralta, a freshman film and media arts major, the win represented a victory for diversity in all forms.

At birth, Perez-Peralta was diagnosed with Goldenhar Syndrome — a rare, craniofacial syndrome that causes abnormalities like a deformed or missing ear, leading her to experience single-sided deafness in her right ear. She rarely recognizes any on-screen role models who look like her, she said.

But as she begins to pursue a film career at Temple University, she hopes to be a role model for younger girls, who are interested in the industry.

The National Association of the Deaf urges representation of deaf or hard of hearing people in film, television and theater to accurately portray “the rich tapestry of deaf and hard of hearing individuals in an accurate and authentic manner,” according to their website.

This year, Perez-Peralta won the 9th annual Cochlear Anders Tjellström Scholarship, which offers grants of $2,000 each year for up to four years for students who use Cochlear devices and demonstrate high academic achievement, leadership and humanity. She was one of eight winners and 189 applicants.

features@temple-news.com

Perez-Peralta became interested in film by making fan accounts for dance bands and making her own mashup videos. She chose to come to Temple as a nearby university to her home in Olney to explore career possibilities in film, and is now interested in directing.

“I never really thought I would graduate high school, not as a bad thing, I just couldn’t picture the future,” Perez-Peralta said. “I feel really happy to afford college, to get accepted to college, to meet new people and focus on what I want to do.”

Getting the scholarship lifted a financial burden off both her and her mother, as they’ve made financial sacrifices in the past for her medical treatment, like the 14 surgeries in her youth as a result of her syndrome, Perez-Peralta said.

In addition to the physical toll these procedures had on her body, Perez-Peralta formerly saw her differences as a burden to her peers, she added.

“When people see me, I feel like they don’t want to bother speaking to me because they might think I might not have the same intellect, intelligence as them, that I’m ‘special,’” Perez-Peralta added.

Growing up, Perez-Peralta’s deafness challenged her ability to focus in school. If she wanted to retain lessons, she had to be constantly alert.

“I had to pay attention,” Perez-Peralta said. “I would get really upset if people were talking louder than the teacher. It was really hard. I would stay after class to make sure I knew what was taught … If I distracted myself, I would lose the lesson for the day.”

Since she was 13, she has worn a bone anchored hearing aid, a surgically implanted device designed for people with single-sided deafness, manufactured by Cochlear, a medical device company.

JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Freshman film and media arts major Nayeli Perez-Peralta stands under the Bell Tower on Feb. 19.

BAHA devices conduct sound through bone vibrations rather than air, used in a typical air-conduction hearing aid, according to Cochlear.

Perez-Peralta recalled the exact moment when her audiologist fastened the device behind her newly constructed ear and listening to the five beeps that sounded, when suddenly, everything felt loud.

“I could’ve sworn I could hear everything around me,” she said. “It felt like I entered a new universe. It felt cool. I could’ve sworn I heard footsteps from down the hallway. I thought I had superpowers.”

People with hearing impairments can experience auditory fatigue from straining to listen to conversations or experiencing overstimulation from background noises picked up by hearing aids, said Stacy Phillips, communication services coordinator at Temple’s Institute on Disabilities.

“They’re getting so much information all the time that it can be overwhelming,” Phillips said.

Hearing loss makes everything harder, said Laurie Mauro, the lead audiologist for bone conduction at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “[Perez-Peralta] doing well, despite her having hearing loss, is because she’s really gone above and beyond what she thinks is just acceptable to get by,” Mauro added.

As she continues to pursue her career in film, Perez-Peralta plans to add diversity to roles in her films and trailblaze the way for people like her.

“I’m pretty good at what I do,” Perez-Peralta said. “I’ve got good grades.

I’m pretty relatable if you get to know me. Obviously I have a loss, but that doesn’t define me.” clairewolters@temple.edu @ClaireWolters

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BAR GUIDE 100 YEARS SINCE PROHIBITION

Pages B1-B8

BAR GUIDE PAGE B2

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

CENTER CITY

Hidden bar features History behind hidden doors changing cocktail menu LETTER

O

ne hundred years ago, the 18th Amendment, which banned the production and sale of alcoholic liquors, was just taking effect. It would be the start of a 13-year-long ban that caused Americans to find their own means to make and consume booze, creating the infamous ideas of the liquor-running bootleggers and speakeasy-dwellers we know today.

In our annual Bar Guide issue, The Temple News chose to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Prohibition’s implementation by talking to historians about how it affected the city, and what still lingers today.

We explored the idea of a “modern speakeasy,” or current hidden Prohibition-era-influenced bars. From an unlabeled bar with 1920s jazz music to basement bars named after money-laundering joints, we feature unique places in the city you wouldn’t know exist from street view. On top of that, we also took a look at the drinks themselves, outlining the differences in gin and moonshine production from Prohibition to today, and compiling a list of many popular 1920’s cocktails.

Philadelphia’s bar scene has been influenced by Prohibition, and traces of this era may remain on Temple University’s campus, too.

In Fall 2018, a group of students found evidence possibly connecting the Temple-owned Alfred E. Burk Mansion on Broad and Jefferson streets to illicit booze distribution, said Graydon Dennison, a second-year United States history and foreign relations Ph.D candidate.

The group came across a 1920s fire insurance map of the neighborhood which showed a nearby building to the mansion that was labeled “club.” They toured the mansion and saw a basement door leading into a few-feet high space they believed to be a tunnel, and later found a Philadelphia Evening Bulletin article from the time that alleged Burk to be involved in rum-running, Dennison said.

In creating this issue, I was able to explore a speakeasy-themed bar in West Philadelphia where I found a drink that came from my friend’s brewery near my hometown in Minnesota. I hope as readers of this issue, you not only take away new knowledge of Prohibition but also consider how events from a century ago may still impact your life today.

Sincerely,

Madison Karas Features Editor

features@temple-news.com

The Franklin Bar is named after the culture a little bit and like slowly like a former money-laundering and teach people about other spirits.”

The bar changes and updates its bootlegging space in the 1920s.

BY YU CHEN For The Temple News In front of an unmarked entrance on Sansom and 18th streets stands a doorman dressed in a brown leather jacket and wool-blend newsboy cap, guiding guests through a basement door.

Inside, the bar’s interior is dimly lit with candles and a bartender of the day creates new concoctions.

The Franklin Bar, established in 2009, is named after the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company, a former rum money-laundering space that was America’s largest bootlegging ring during prohibition during the 1920s, BBC reported.

“The fact that it is in the middle of Philadelphia and you don’t feel like you’re in the middle of Philadelphia, you are really checking into a different time, a different place, a different era,” said Derik Yarnell, 51 and a first-time customer.

The bar sells many types of original experimental cocktails, like lime-cucumber-prosecco-brandy refreshers and rosemary-blueberry-coconut liqueur “wildcards.” Customers can order classic cocktails and riffs, in addition to custom drinks.

“When it first started, the consultants and the head bartenders didn’t want any vodka in [the menu],” said Emmanuel Sanchez, 28, Franklin’s general manager. “They kinda wanted to change

menu every two to three months.

During the turnover process, they set up a roundtable of bartenders, where everyone gives input on new drinks to feature.

Staff members also search for inspiration for new cocktails by visiting different bars in the city.

“They are very deliberate about cocktails,” said Leonard De Guzman, 32, a customer. “It’s no wine, no beer, it’s very clearly a focus on cocktails, one of a section on the menu is even ‘Spirituous,’ right, a spirituous full one.”

Austin Ayars, 24, a bartender and a waiter, said Franklin is the first bar he’s worked at that focuses on cocktails, instead of food.

His favorite is The Celebrity Chef, a Japanese cuisine-inspired cocktail contains wasabi, lime juice, orgeat, orange flower water and almond drink, he added.

“We do a lot of classics but we also have a very heavy prep-program, making different syrups, ingredients, and fusions that you won’t typically see at other bars, so that allows us to experiment with a lot more ingredients and flavor profile,” Ayars said.

Andrew Peterson, 25, another bartender, said the bar is unique compared to others that rush in making drinks.

“We do the opposite,” he said. “We take as many times and care about the cocktail as much as we can.” chen.yu@temple.edu @19ychen

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BAR GUIDE PAGE B3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

HISTORY

Philadelphia was ‘wet as the Atlantic Ocean’ in 1920s At the ban’s beginning, the city was home to 1,700 saloons. A decade later, there were 1,200.

BY ASA CADWALLADER Community Beat Reporter On Nov. 7, 1920, below the fold of the Philadelphia Inquirer one headline read “Hearse kept moving; no one dead, but five barrels liquor found.”

Whiskey was being covertly transported by hearse from a South Philadelphia undertaker to a popular saloon at 16th and Wharton streets. The agents seized more than $40,000 worth of illicit booze.

This technique was just one way Philadelphia saloon owners were increasingly crafty in order to avoid the city’s prohibition enforcement agents, or “dry agents” as they were known at the time, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Prohibition, or the 18th Amendment, took effect in 1920 and lasted until 1933. The amendment prohibited the manufacture, transport or sale of alcoholic liquors, but did not prohibit drinking the beverages, according to ATF. This led to the creation of “speakeasies,” or private, unlicensed barrooms, according to the Mob Museum, a Prohibition and 19th-century museum in Las Vegas.

“It’s funny because 100 years after Prohibition there has been a resurgence of the speakeasy-style bar in Philadelphia,” said Amy Cohen, director of Education at History Making Productions, which produces documentaries, including one covering Prohibition-era Philadelphia. “When something is secret or illicit, it often adds to the fun. The 100th anniversary is timely, but I think there is also an appeal of the illicit when imbibing.”

The Prohibition movement emerged after years of lobbying, primarily from women’s temperance groups.

This political mobilization around Prohibition helped women gain a platform in national politics. Soon after, the 19th Amendment, which gave women the @TheTempleNews

TEMPLE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER / COURTESY Police officers seize liquor at Albert M. Dufour’s restaurant in South Penn Square near 15th street in Jan. 25, 1935. This photo was originally published in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.W

right to vote, was ratified, Cohen said.

During Prohibition, Philadelphia was known to be “wet as the Atlantic Ocean,” since it saw little local law enforcement, said Annie Anderson, manager of research and public programming at Eastern State Penitentiary.

“By in large, police officers and officials looked the other way and were in some instances...receiving bribes from local saloons and bootleggers,” Anderson said. “So it was actually profitable for police officers to turn a blind eye to this illegal activity. I don’t think Prohibition invented corruption in Philadelphia, but it definitely exacerbated it.”

Prohibition’s dismal enforcement in Philadelphia is reflected by a relatively low number of saloon closures. When the amendment took effect, Philadelphia was home to about 1,700 saloons. A decade later, still under Prohibition, of-

ficials estimated there were still around 1,200 saloons operating relatively freely, Anderson said.

An integral character in Philadelphia’s dry era was Lt. Smedley Darlington Butler, a decorated military officer who became the city’s director of public safety in 1924, she added.

Butler, nicknamed the “Fighting Quaker,” with a strong penchant for law and order, posed the largest threat to the city’s bootleggers and organized crime bosses, the New York Times reported.

He took a more intensive approach to alcohol enforcement compared to past city officials, Anderson said.

“There is a huge increase in arrests when Smedley Butler takes the reigns from his predecessor,” she added.

Yet, most people who were caught breaking Prohibition laws did not go to prison or jail but rather were fined. As a

result, violators saw few concrete repercussions and most saloon and speakeasy proprietors saw fines from the city as more or less the cost of doing business, Anderson said.

Butler’s relentless attitude toward curbing crime and corruption in Philadelphia would ultimately cut his tenure short. His abrasive leadership style brought him to odds with the city’s then-mayor, Freeland Kendrick, who relieved Butler of his post in 1926, Cohen said.

“If you banned alcohol today, I’m sure it wouldn’t be much different than how it went the first time,” said Kejsi Shahaj, a 20-year-old who lives on 16th Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue. “I think Philadelphian’s are going to be drinking regardless.” asa.cadwallader@temple.edu

features@temple-news.com

BAR GUIDE PAGE B4

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

WHAT’S THE PASSWORD? To get into a speakeasy, you had to know a password or special knocks. Drinks inside contained everything from bathtub gin to champagne, allowing bartenders to come up with creative cocktails. The Temple News found five popular drinks from the 1920s — try them out and maybe you’ll find them to be the bee’s knees.

By Ayooluwa Ariyo and Bibiana Correa Assistant Features Editors

Monkey Gland

In composition, the Monkey Gland, made with gin and absinthe, is quite similar to many cocktails, but its name is controversial. This drink became popular a year before Prohibition when a London bartender named it after a Russian doctor’s process of grafting monkey’s glands into humans, the Daily Beast reported.

features@temple-news.com

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BAR GUIDE

PAGE B5

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

Mary Pickford Mixing white rum, pineapple juice and grenadine, this sweet drink was inspired

by America’s silent screen sweetheart Mary Pickford, a Canadian-born actress who starred alongside Charlie Chaplin. The drink was created in her honor in Havana, Cuba, where she filmed a movie, according to the Washington Post.

@TheTempleNews

Tom Collins Mix gin, lemon juice, carbonated water and sugar and you get the funniest drink in the bar.

This drink was named after an 1874 joke popular in New York and Philadelphia. People came into bars jokingly asking for “Tom Collins.” Bartenders later made a drink named after the fictional man, so a person making the joke would unknowingly order a drink, Business Insider reported.

Bee’s Knees True to its name, the Bee’s Knees uses gin, honey and lemon juice to give a pleasant taste to the otherwise bad bathtub gin. The cocktail was considered a novelty, as it was one of the first drinks to get bartenders to use honey, instead of sugar, since the colonial ages, according to PBS.

Gin Rickey This classic refreshing drink can be made with just three ingredients: gin, lime juice and seltzer. This cocktail was considered author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s favorite drink because he believed gin wasn’t detectable on the breath, NPR reported.

features@temple-news.com

BAR GUIDE PAGE B6

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

FISHTOWN

Craft distillery’s gin honors the ‘American story’ Philadelphia Distilling’s Bluecoat catered to the American palate.”

During Prohibition, low-quality alGin is named after soldiers’ unicohol called ‘bathtub gin’ was produced forms in the Revolutionary War.

BY AYOOLUWA ARIYO Assistant Features Editor In the late ‘90s, Andrew Auwerda was running his own cosmetic company, but he saw a very different business opportunity ahead — craft liquor.

“I saw a market opportunity in craft spirits,” Auwerda said. “I saw it as a coming culinary trend.”

Auwerda created Philadelphia Distilling, a craft distillery on Allen and Laurel streets, as the first craft distillery to be founded in Pennsylvania since Prohibition, he said.

“It was starting from, when I say scratch, I mean nobody knew nothing,” Auwerda said.

In Pennsylvania, a craft distillery is an independently owned business that discloses the ingredients, distilling location, bottling location and aging processes, and produces fewer than 100,000 gallons of liquor annually, according to the American Craft Spirits Association.

Craft distilling was not popular when Philadelphia Distilling started, Auwerda said.

Philadelphia Distilling produces many signature drinks, including their ever-so-popular Bluecoat American Dry Gin, a smooth, aromatic gin made entirely from botanicals.

“We were launching a brand called Bluecoat that really is all about the founding fathers of our country and really plays on the incredible history that took place here in Philadelphia,” Auwerda said.

Bluecoat Gin is named after the Continental Army who fought against the British during the American Revolutionary War. The continental army wore blue uniforms while the British army wore red uniforms, according to the History Channel.

“We were talking about the American story through our brand,” Auwerda said. “We created a style of gin that was features@temple-news.com

illegally with ingredients like corn sugar, beets, potato slices, glycerin and some juniper oil for flavor, according to the Mob Museum.

Today, juniper berry is a key ingredient for making gin. The berries Philadelphia Distilling uses in Bluecoat are softer and rounder, which makes the gin less pungent. Their gins also have citrus notes in it, which makes it different from London dry gin, Auwerda said.

Bluecoat’s influence is predominant in Philadelphia’s drinking scene, said Jack Wareing, a first-time customer at Philadelphia Distilling.

“I always love to check out local gins and what people are doing,” Wareing said. “It’s cool to see new brands, especially brands that encapsulate that local kind of scene as well, I think that’s super cool.”

Nick Sadowski, a 2011 broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media alumnus, started working as a distiller at Philadelphia Distilling in 2017 and enjoys the creative freedom he gets at the company.

“As long as we’re doing our work and getting everything done and making sure Bluecoat’s getting made, they encourage experimentation,” Sadowski said.

Aaron Selya, the head distiller has worked there for almost six years and uses his biochemistry degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the organic distilling process.

“Creating alcohol for a living is a lot of fun,” he said. “There’s a lot of room for creative expression in what we’re doing, especially in the gin world, where there’s not as many rules about what you can or can’t do.”

Since 2005, the number of distilleries across Pennsylvania has increased, Auwerda said.

Selya hopes consumers are aware of their history and why their products are different from other styles of gin.

“Education is a big part of it for us,”

AYOOLUWA ARIYO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Nick Sadowski, a distiller at Philadelphia Distilling and a 2011 broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media alumnus, stands in front of a barrel of grains and botanicals and explains the whiskey production process on Feb. 14.

AYOOLUWA ARIYO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Bluecoat American Dry Gin lines the walls of Philadelphia Distilling, a craft distillery on Allen and Laurel Streets.

Selya said. “Because we also truly believe that an educated consumer is going to gravitate towards the highest quality spirit, which we think that’s what we’re

making.” ayooluwa.ariyo@temple.edu @fogo_ay

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BAR GUIDE PAGE B7

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

CITY LIFE

Once-illegal drink finds it’s way to bars, distilleries During Prohibition, bootleggers smuggled moonshine in the city.

Today, several bars produce it.

BY MELVIN SARAVIA For The Temple News Born to Russian immigrants, Max “Boo Boo” Hoff started his career gambling and boxing before expanding his fortune through bootlegging moonshine in the 1920s, the New York Times reported in 1941.

Known as the “king of Philadelphia bootleggers,” Hoff was just one of many alcohol distributors in Philadelphia during Prohibition, said Annie Anderson, the manager of research and public programming at Eastern State Penitentiary.

Today, moonshine production has changed from how it looked a century ago.

Bootleggers, rumrunners or moonshiners, were people who made, distributed and sold alcohol illegally, smuggling it from places like the Caribbean or making it themselves. During Prohibition, Philadelphia was one hub for illegal distilleries and hidden bars called speakeasies, Anderson said.

Overseas shipments, as well as local operations, small and large, were all easily transportable along the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. This gave the city easier access to alcohol during a time where it was extremely hard to come by, Anderson said.

“It was very profitable for the bootleggers, who had quite a bit of risk and liability,” she added. “There was a lot of bootlegging violence in Philadelphia in the 1920s, but that was a risk that many bootleggers took on.”

Historically, the term moonshine was used to refer to low-quality, illegally brewed spirits, CNN reported. The term now refers to clear, unaged whiskey.

To make it a century ago, cornmeal was soaked in hot water, yeast and sugar were added. Then, the mixture was fermented and distilled, according to the Mob Museum, a Prohibition and 19th-century museum in downtown Las Vegas.

@TheTempleNews

Now, commercial moonshine is supervised by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to a 1981 report by National Academies Press.

Walter Palmer, a 1984 photography alumnus and owner of W.P. Palmer Distilling Co. on Shurs Lane near Penchin in Manayunk, uses a more traditional way of making moonshine as opposed to the fermentation, distillation and post-distillation method used now with machines.

Palmer ferments corn and barley, adding yeast to the mixture and distilling it twice, similar to the 18th-century method of production, he said.

“We’re using just the basic elements of fire and water and air,” Palmer added.

Other bars throughout Philadelphia, like JJ Bootleggers on 2nd and Chestnut Streets and Moonshine Philly on Sigel Street near Moyamensing in South Philadelphia, specialize in the spirit, according to their websites.

Moonshine Philly gained a lot of accidental popularity for their moonshine, said Richard Fattori, co-owner of Moonshine Philly along with Sam Arbitman.

“We were focused on the restaurant at first, but obviously as the name suggests, people came in and said, ‘What kind of moonshine do you carry?’” Fattori added.

“So, we try to be as extensive as we can and carry different brands of moonshine.”

The restaurant uses Ole Smoky Moonshine for the base of their drinks and experiments with different flavors like blackberry, orange, coffee and jalapeño.

Their most popular drink is their sangria moonshine, Fattori said.

Moonshine’s traditional taste is a distinctive flavor that most customers gravitate to, Palmer said.

“It’s a more traditional flavor, it’s not, kind of, we’re not using kind of trickery and technology to make something, we’re actually letting nature do its job,” he added.

CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Walter Palmer, a 1984 photography alumnus, pours his freshly distilled alcohol into a storage container at his distillery on Shurs Lane near Penchin in Manayunk on Feb. 18.

CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Walter Palmer, a 1984 photography alumnus, holds a jar of barley he uses when making moonshine at his distillery.

melvin.saravia@temple.edu

features@temple-news.com

BAR GUIDE PAGE B8

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

SPRUCE HILL

Unlabeled bar supports small brewers, distillers A second-floor bar hidden above an Ethiopian restaurant features more than 150 kinds of beer.

BY MADISON KARAS Features Editor

Up through the side-door of Abyssinia Ethiopian restaurant and atop a red-carpeted stairwell, you’ll come to a set of two blue-trimmed white doors. A sign covering the small, square window reads “Bar open @ 6:00.”

Every day of the year after 6 p.m., Fiume opens its doors on the second floor of Abyssinia on 45th Street near Locust.

Unlabeled to street pedestrians, the cozy, splotchy-painted and dimly-lit six-stool and five-table bar offers more than 150 kinds of beer, 80 types of whiskeys, and a wine and craft cocktail list.

Yet, if you order a Seven and Seven or a Jack and Coke, Fiume won’t be able to serve you one. There are limited-edition beers from shut-down breweries, $60 special-release wheat whiskey pours, and a signature cocktail named after the restaurant below, but no Corona, Red Stripe or even Jim Beam.

“We want to welcome people that are just going to come in and ask for something like that,” said Fiume manager Kevin Holland, 45. “But we simultaneously want to show them this is what we do, and it’s a little bit different and here’s why.”

Before he took over, the space above Abyssinia was a vegan cafe. After it closed, multiple people founded Fiume as an anarchist-run bar in 2001. The staffers had no official positions and collaborated on all business decisions. Holland helped run the bar a few months, but eventually, the operation fell apart and he became manager, Holland said.

And although there’s almost nothing anti-establishment about the bar anymore, Holland still curates Fiume’s menu to support smaller brewers, distillers and wholesalers, he said.

“It sort of fits in with the 99 percent sort of thing,” he added. “I want to keep a thriving middle class with lots of opportunity and lots of money, and not just features@temple-news.com

MADISON KARAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Fiume, a speakeasy-style bar on 45th and Locust streets, displays different whiskeys on a backlit ramp Kevin Holland, the bar’s manager, calls “The Stairway to Heaven.”

money, but the other things that take one hold.”

The bar’s inventory changes frequently, stocking new brews from across the country, Holland said.

“Almost every week, I come in and there’s at least one new thing,” said Micah Edwards, 24, who’s been working at Fiume for five years.

Fiume requires only one of its six employees to staff it each night until the last call at 1:15 a.m., making it different than any other bartending gig, Edwards said.

“You’re the bartender, the barback, the busser here, you know, you’re doing everything,” he added.

The relaxed atmosphere of Fiume brings in a diverse crowd of students, regulars and neighbors, Edwards said.

“It’s a local staple, so many of my friends and peers always came here for something special, like the atmosphere,” said Ryan Hendriksen, 31, who lives on

49th Street near Walnut.

While Hendriksen frequents Fiume for its craft beer menu, the first night he visited eight years ago wasn’t for the drinks, but for live music.

On Sundays at 8 p.m., the bar has rotating house bands who play New Orleans jazz and Balkan music. And on Thursdays at 10 p.m., The Citywide Specials, a bluegrass band that Holland fronts, takes the stage.

“That band is the last truly anarchist thing about this bar because as its leader, I can just tell you, they don’t do what I say,” Holland said.

Larry Toft, 39, an elementary school music teacher and frontman for The Red Hot Ramblers, a Prohibition Era jazz ensemble, has been playing at Fiume since 2014, and calls it a “modern speakeasy.”

“It’s hidden enough that you kind of have to know what you’re getting into to go there,” Toft said. “It’s very small, intimate. It feels like you’re playing in some-

one’s living room. All the guests that go there are just very into getting into the unknown, in terms of music and bar scene. It’s completely unique from any other bar I’ve been to.”

Keeping Fiume open for guests 365 days of the year is important for Holland to give people a space to go if they don’t have family to go to on holidays.

“They might actually feel that they have that here in the sort of, it’s important for me to be open for them, and it’s often a fun night,” he said. “And then there’s also people that have just been with their family for like, too long and they need to go to their bar and drink.”

For better or for worse, there’s no other bar like it, Holland said. He hopes Fiume can run as long as it can.

“This is such a special and unique place,” he said. “Nothing lasts forever, especially this.” karas@temple.edu @madraekaras

temple-news.com

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PAGE 13

ON CAMPUS

Student organization teaches spirituality, yoga Owlwakening meets once a week and promotes the practices as tools for self-development.

BY RENATA BUSCHER KAMINSKI Campus Beat Reporter Last August, Miriam Shlafman went to La Casa Shambala, a registered yoga school in the Ko Pha-ngan District in Thailand, where she became a certified yoga teacher.

“I finally kind of was able to centralize my knowledge in a codified language, and that really helped me to develop further, refine my knowledge and understand better,” said Shlafman, a junior human resource management major.

Shlafman returned to Temple University wanting to share her knowledge about spirituality and self-development with other students and created the student organization Owlwakening in Fall 2019. In the organization, she leads a 16-week course that guides and helps students find a purpose and have a better understanding of themselves.

“College is a time period when there are so many options and a lot of exciting new opportunities, and it is really easy to get lost,” Shlafman said. “So, I want to help people find their voices and find themselves, and to not think there is something that society has put on them, but to find something that they are on the inside and bring that out and let that shine through them.”

In the organization’s first semester Shlafman met one-on-one with students to talk about spirituality and self-development.

This semester, Owlwakening is meeting in small groups. They focus on yoga and also do activities to explore art forms and complete writing prompts.

Kourtney Clark, the university’s fitness coordinator, hopes that having a student-led yoga classes may inspire

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others. “[Yoga] has a lot of health benefits, improving flexibility and helping improve your longevity and your health as an individual,” Clark said. “Also, I think for students it is important to do yoga because it can be a stress reliever and they can focus on mindfulness.”

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 30 minutes of physical exercise five days a week. It can be a moderate or vigorous activity, and yoga is perfect because it is a moderate level of physical activity but it also has great flexibility component, Clark said.

Yoga helps with stress management, mental and emotional health, promoting healthy habits, sleep and balance, according to National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

Because students are focused on their careers, social life and money, college is an intense time period, helping students find a balance in life is one of her goals, Shlafman said.

“A lot of our students have a great need for finding ways to practice, to access their spirituality and define to calm down and listen to their inner self and I think the way that the organization is set up for the participants to engage in these processes is very practical and very effective,” said Merian Soto, a dance professor and the organization’s advisor.

Julia Rudy, a junior Italian major and member of Owlwakening, said yoga has helped her get in touch with her body and feelings. As a transfer student, the club has been beneficial to her, she added.

“It helps me feel better when I am focusing on working on myself, and I can do that through this club,” Rudy said.

“It has been a really nice transition for a personal reason and I feel it is a very welcoming community.” renata.kaminski@temple.edu @renatabkaminski

CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Miriam Shlafman (left), a junior human resource management major, instructs Alesan Aboafahe, senior media studies and production major, on yoga poses in the Charles Library on Feb. 20.

CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Miriam Shlafman (right), a junior human resources and management major, holds a pose with Alesan Aboafahe, senior media studies and production major, in the Charles Library on Feb. 20.

features@temple-news.com

FEATURES PAGE 14

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

FLOWER POWER WORD SEARCH DAISIES ROSES TULIPS CARNATIONS LILIES IRISES PEONIES DAFFODILS

SUNFLOWERS ORCHIDS MARIGOLDS POPPIES ASTERS CATMINT CHRYSANTHEMUMS

BAR GUIDE CROSSWORD DOWN

ACROSS

1. An alcoholic drink made from yeast-fermented malt

3. A Mexican alcoholic drink made from agave plants

2. A cocktail made with gin and vermouth topped with a lemon or olive

6. A drink made from fermented grape juice

4. A drink made with rum, coconut and pineapple juice 5. A Russian alcoholic drink made by distilling rye, wheat or potatoes 10. Liquor made from sugarcane residues or molasses features@temple-news.com

7. A pink cocktail made with triple sec, cranberry juice, vodka and lime juice 8. An alcoholic drink mixed with iced tea 9. A cocktail made with citrus fruit juice and tequila

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FEATURES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

PAGE 15

ALUMNI

Nonprofit supports immigrant-owned businesses

“The difficulties that they faced community outreach. Their clients are Eat Up The Borders helps restaurant owners with branding ser- mostly had to do with marketing, but it primarily restaurant owners, like rewas also a lack of familiarity,” Ngo said. cent partners Café Tinto, a Colombian vices and event planning.

BY TIM SHERMER For The Temple News In 2019, Philadelphia was home to nearly 50,000 immigrant-owned businesses employing 150,000 people inside city limits alone, Inc.com reported.

Cindy Ngo and Asmah Mahboubi, two first generation Americans, are the co-founders of Eat Up The Borders, a nonprofit that partners with local immigrant-owned businesses to help them navigate the city’s restaurant scene by providing branding services to owners who are having difficulty overcoming language or cultural barriers.

Ngo, a 2017 communications alumna and whose parents are from Guatemala and Vietnam, watched her parents face difficulties owning a pizzeria, but ultimately having to sell it.

VOICES What are your plans for Spring Break?

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Shortly after graduating from Temple, Ngo met Mahboubi, a 2019 human resource management alumna, through the Young Entrepreneurship Leadership Network at the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, a nonprofit organization that promotes inclusive economic growth through immigrant integration.

Mahboubi was interested in building relationships with language, while Ngo was interested in doing the same through food, Ngo said.

“When we were coming up with a business plan, I was like, ‘Lots of people are afraid of the language barrier,’” Mahboubi said. “So I wanted to find a way to bring diverse cultures together using the English language.”

Eat Up The Borders helps businesses with marketing, event planning and

restaurant on Wyoming Avenue near A Street, and Apricot Stone, a Mediterranean restaurant on American near George Street.

Apricot Stone is the new version of co-owner Ara Ishkhanian’s family’s restaurant they had opened in 1991, after relocating to the United States from Aleppo, Syria, and later living in Toronto, Canada.

“No matter where you’re from, your accent, your language, your culture, the customers need to see you and hear you,” said Ishkhanian, a 2008 business management alumnus and co-owner of Apricot Stone.

Shortly after Ishkhanian re-opened the restaurant in 2016 as Apricot Stone, Eat Up The Borders helped them host events like multilingual cooking lessons.

“Being descendants of immigrants,

wherever they came from, there’s a kind of connection,” Ishkhanian said.

Eat Up The Borders hopes to organize large, block-party style events in the coming months to foster more community between new entrepreneurs and nearby residents, Ngo said.

Mahboubi’s parents immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan, bringing with them a culture that was hard for her to embrace when she was younger, she said.

This turned into an appreciation for the work her and Ngo do, Mahboubi said.

“We both have the same origin story, the American dream,” Ngo said. “Her family came here to start a business, my family came here to start a business, and they both failed. We don’t want that happening to other immigrants.” tim.shermer@temple.edu @tdshermer

MAKENZIE JACKSON Freshman finance major

AUSTIN GIRAUD Sophomore marketing major

A friend from home is visiting me. We’ll probably go into the city, walk around.

My plans are to go down to Mexico with my grandparents, probably go scuba diving and go to some fancy restaurant.

MIRACLE WILLIAMS Junior recreational therapy major

MATTHEW KWIATKOWSKI Senior economics major

Me and my friends are going to Cancun from Wednesday to Sunday, and we planned some excursions, like we’re taking a boat trip to a place called Isla Mujeres. We also plan to do jetskiing.

I’m gonna work a little bit more, and I’m also gonna see my grandmother in Alabama

features@temple-news.com

FEATURES PAGE 16

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

LIVE IN PHILLY

Drum party celebrates Carnaval

JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS

On Saturday, hundreds of people danced at World Cafe Live on 30th near Walnut Street at PhillyBloco’s Brazilian Carnaval show. PhillyBloco, a collective of 23 musicians and performers, modeled the event after Carnaval in Brazil, an annual carnival where the community comes together and parades in the streets while drumming and playing music.

Founder and director Michael Stevens, 42, a drum instructor from Amherst, Massachusetts, began PhillyBloco more than 10 years ago, after teaching samba drum classes and traveling to Brazil.

Stevens describes PhillyBloco concerts as a “big, loud, fun dance party with lots of drums.” The group performs a mashup of samba, funk and reggae music and featured Brazilian dancers.

Bart Miltenberger, 44, a social worker at the University of Pennsylvania, is a trumpeter for PhillyBloco.

“This is a super fun band,” Miltenberger said. “Tonight we found out that this gig is totally sold out. So there’s gonna be 650, whatever people, all having a good time. This particular one, Carnaval, is our best.”

features@temple-news.com

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INTERSECTION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

PAGE 17

STUDENT LIFE

Students from the Caribbean transition to Temple

Two students discuss why they study in America and the importance of taking care of family.

BY MAGDALENA BECKER Assistant Intersection Editor

F

or Steven Dimanche, moving from Haiti to the United States for higher education was a choice made not only for him but also for his family.

“I’m not working for me. I’m working for everybody,” said Dimanche, a senior electrical engineering major. Coming from Haiti, he said, there was never another option.

Two students from Caribbean countries said they felt pressure from family, as well as contrasting social and professional expectations when studying in the United States.

The language barrier was also a challenge, especially when it comes to finding jobs, Dimanche said. Fluent in Haitian Creole, as well as knowing French and English, he said it is difficult to find employment due to his Haitian accent.

Alexi Blake, a senior kinesiology major, moved from Jamaica with his parents and two siblings when he was 10.

Blake remembers noticing a lack of community when he moved to the U.S. In Jamaica, he remembers “everyone was more sociable and a lot more easy to talk to,” but it wasn’t too difficult to transition to his lifestyle here.

Whether an international student leaves their home as a child or as a young adult, there is always an emphasis on working to support family, Dimanche said. Both Dimanche and Blake chose more of a math and science-based major due to the pressure of having a lucrative career.

“I’m going to be a physical therapist,” Blake said. “The idea was math and science will make good money.”

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CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Alexi Blake, senior kinesiology major, stands outside the Diamond Green apartment building on Feb. 24.

Blake watched his older brother feel the intense pressure to bring home a paycheck or send gifts back to Jamaica, but as the middle child in his family, he felt this pressure a little less.

The Office of International Student Affairs Director Leah Hetzell and the office’s Assistant Director Marena Ariffin help all international students acclimate to the U.S. “We absolutely know this can be a difficult time,” Hetzell said. “It can be really challenging and there are so many different pieces of the puzzle that you have to fit together.”

It is normal for an international student’s transition to be challenging, Ariffin said.

“It could start hitting them right midway through the first semester or even a few weeks after they started classes,” Ariffin said. “It can be so overwhelming with all the changes, academically, personally, you name it.”

ISA has been able to support Caribbean students during times of tragedy, Hetzell said, like when Hurricane Maria struck the northern Caribbean in 2017.

It displaced more than 100,000 Puerto Ricans from their homes, according to Mercy Corps, a non-governmental hu-

manitarian aid organization.

Dimanche emphasized that leaving one’s home for education is more than just a choice for personal gain, but a way to take care of others.

The eldest of his family, Dimanche plans to take complete financial care of his mother. For him, not only is this attitude mandatory, but it’s a valued part of the Haitian family tradition.

“Once you leave someone behind, you have to look behind,” Dimanche said. magdalena.becker@temple.edu magdalenamercyy

intersection@temple-news.com

INTERSECTION PAGE 18

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

LGBTQ

‘Just who I am’: What it means to be queer, Caribbean Queer Caribbean students discuss anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in Caribean countries.

BY RAYONNA HOBBS Assistant Intersection Editor Despite the spread of LGBTQ visibility, there are still many parts of the world where LGBTQ people and their rights aren’t recognized, according to a 2019 world report by Human Rights Watch.

Countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, and Jamaica, still have some form of anti-LGBTQ legislation in place, according to the Humans Rights Watch.

Historically, Caribbean countries have taken anti-LGBTQ stances. The influence from British colonial rule is still present within discriminatory legislation, according to OutRight Action International, an LGBTQ human rights advocacy group.

Guyana, for example, has a “savings clause” in its constitution that protects former British laws from review, even if the laws counter fundamental human rights, making it hard to challenge these laws.

However, in April 2018, the Trinidad and Tobago High Court declared a law that criminalized homosexuality unconstitutional, NBC News reported.

Still, these laws have influenced Caribbean people’s opinions of the LGBTQ community. Ariel Keen, a junior psychology major with a criminal justice minor, receives both acceptance and resistance toward her identity as a bisexual Jamaican woman.

“When I came out to my dad as bisexual, he was cool about it, and I told him I was scared to tell him and he said ‘At the end of the day, you are who you are. Who am I to stop you?’” she said.

But coming out to other family members, Keen didn’t receive the same positive reaction. “[My grandmother] was like, ‘I know who you’re going to end up with in the future, it’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,’” Keen said. intersection@temple-news.com

JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Ariel Keen, a junior psychology major and a bisexual Jamaican woman, stands in the Johnny Ring Garden on Feb. 23.

Keen finds it frustrating to deal with family members who hold these homophobic views.

“I don’t like the close-mindedness, and I’ve dealt with that mindset with my own family,” Keen said.

Allicia Jagnarine, a junior neuroscience and psychology major who is Guyanese-Trinidadian, is disheartened by the region’s anti-LGBTQ stance.

“I feel that the islands themselves are less progressed with equal rights,” she said. Discrimination within the community is horrendous and people are being oppressed and even being killed for this.”

While most of the anti-LGBTQ laws aren’t heavily enforced, a strong stigma against LGBTQ individuals remains and upholding these laws serves as a reminder of those beliefs.

“This mindset is very ignorant and oppressive and having this mindset is holding the Caribbean back from progressing toward eliminating its violence and inequality,” Jagnarine said.

“I feel like it has a lot to do with religion, Christianity specifically,” Keen said. “People tend to have a conservative side to them, having very traditional values.”

Jagnarine also believes religion is why people in Caribbean countries hold onto homophobic beliefs.

“Many Abrahamic religions were carried into the West Indies, and it has greatly influenced the viewpoints and beliefs,” Jagnarine said.

In recent years there have been efforts made to spread LGBTQ acceptance.

In 2015 Jamaica held its first pride cele-

bration, the Guardian reported. Guyana along with Trinidad and Tobago held their first pride parade in 2018 despite backlash from religious groups who opposed it, the Washington Blade, an LGBTQ newspaper, reported.

“Being queer and Caribbean is just who I am, and it’s my responsibility to encourage other queer Caribbean people to be themselves by creating safe spaces,” Jagnarine said.

As for Keen, she doesn’t want the influence of other people’s opinions to affect her life.

“Always stick to what you think is best for your life, don’t change who you are because someone won’t accept it, always live your truth,” Keen added. rayonna.hobbs@temple.edu

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INTERSECTION PAGE 19

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

CULTURE

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival celebrates ‘community’ “People think when we wine autoStudents from Trinidad explain the meaning of Carnival and matically means that you’re trying to go further than the dancing, but in the some of its misconceptions.

BY NICO CISNEROS Intersection Editor Today marks the end of Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival, a celebration of freedom and a time of fun before a religious season.

Carnival began in 1783 after the French colonized Trinidad, according to the National Library of Trinidad and Tobago. Non-white people were not allowed to participate in the festivities until 1838 when slaves were freed and Trinidad became independent — prompting the joyous celebration seen across the world today.

Carnival also occurs before Ash Wednesday to mark the beginning of the Christian season of Lent, according to the National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago.

Some of the traditions of Carnival are misunderstood by non-Trinidadians. Latanya N. Jenkins, a reference librarian for government information and Africology and African American studies and a Trinidadian-American, said a common misconception is that the time is only about “bacchanal,” or wild partying.

“Carnival is a celebration of community and inclusion of all people if you are there to have a good time,” she said.

“There is laughter and togetherness, [and] there is great food.”

Senior dance major and Trinidadian Makayla Peterson said people often think the celebration has a sexual component to it, but it does not. One of the reasons she said this persists is because of people’s perception of dance styles seen at the festival, which include wining, which when you move your waist in a circular motion.

In the culture, there is no sexual connotation to the dance, she said.

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culture of the dance is just to dance, and that’s it,” she said. “I could dance with my mother, my father, my grandfather, my friend or my boyfriend. It’s not seen in any particular way.”

Another way non-Trinidadians sexualize the holiday is through costuming.

“In the culture, it’s not like, ‘Oh I’m showing skin.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, I’m wearing a costume,’” Peterson said.

Senior criminal justice major and Trinidadian Cierra Jenae Hargett-Khalifa’s mother has designed costumes for different global Carnival celebrations for 15 years. Her mother designs costumes of all styles, from the more “revealing” bedazzled and feathered bikinis to those that reflect the 1700s, when the festival was introduced to the island, according to the National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago.

Hargett-Khalifa said costumes’ meanings vary from person to person.

“For my family, the carnival costume itself symbolizes our creativity,” she said. “It’s more important to us because we’re seeing our physical work.

Whereas for other people, it could just be symbolizing the history of whatever country you’re from.”

The sexualization of Carnival inspired Hargett-Khalifa to create a video in a criminal justice course about stereotypes of West Indian women and the over-sexualization of the culture and Carnival.

Hargett-Khalifa feels insulted that people assume Carnival, an important cultural holiday for her and her family, is inherently sexual.

“People think of it as, ‘Oh, that’s just like women and males excuse to go out and be naked,’ and I feel like that’s just so disrespectful because that’s not what Carnival’s about,” she said. “I feel like people that don’t know about our culture that tried to use it as an excuse. I

JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Temple Ramajay, a West Indian dance group, holds a Trinidadian dance workshop in the Student Center on Feb. 18.

think they’re the ones that’s causing this misconception because that’s totally not what it’s about.”

Instead, Carnival is meant to be a time to celebrate freedom, Jenkins said.

“To me, Carnival is a celebration of culture that means a history of overcoming the adversity of enslavement and British rule, celebrating the drum beats and lyrics of soca music, enjoying the colorful and exciting costumes and dancing,” she said. “It’s representative of culture that is as complex as religion and politics.”

For Hargett-Khalifa’s family and many Trinidadians, both Carnival and Lent are important traditions.

“You can still do your fêteing, but once that season is done, you need to reconnect to your religious roots,” she said.

Peterson’s favorite memory of Car-

nival happened in Miami, where she celebrated the festival with her friends.

The celebration was just one of the many worldwide Carnival celebrations that occur every year, according to the Global Canivalist travel blog.

Peterson felt that sharing her culture with her friends allowed her to be her true self.

“Being able to celebrate my culture and have an amazing time with my friends like that was just like such an amazing experience because they were just open to it,” She said. “I feel like I’ve never gotten to do that I feel I’ve been a lot of ways I’ve always had legend no diminish or like hide the true value to myself because people wouldn’t get it.” nicole.cisneros@temple.edu nicomcisneros

intersection@temple-news.com

INTERSECTION PAGE 20

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

POLITICS

Temple community: Territories ‘need more of a say’ Professors and a student explain the history of U.S. territories and the impact on territory citizens.

BY NICO CISNEROS Intersection Editor Senior anthropology major Yuryssa Lewis fondly remembers her life in St. Croix, one of the Virgin Islands. Growing up, she enjoyed going on hikes every day, picking fruits from orange and coconut trees in her yard and greeting everyone like they were family.

Lewis learned at a young age that she lived in a U.S. territory, but she wasn’t aware of what that meant as a kid. After learning what this means and living on the U.S. mainland for four years, Lewis feels that she is American, with a caveat.

“Citizen-wise I am an American. I can’t deny that I’m American, but I also haven’t lived here long enough necessarily to find out what it means to be American except for, you know, a sense of patriotism,” she said. “But culturally, I’m West Indian.”

Lewis’s home of St. Croix is one of the five inhabited United States territories, according to the United States Census Bureau. Two of these territories, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are in the Caribbean. The islands are home to a combined total of more than 3.3 million American citizens.

But being from a territory is complicated. Although these individuals are American citizens, they cannot vote in United States presidential elections, according to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. They also lack representation in Congress, because while each territory has a delegate, that person does not have any voting power, according to the United States House of Representatives.

The United States has had these Caribbean territories for hundreds of years.

Puerto Rico was acquired from Spain in 1898 and the U.S. Virgin Islands were acquired from Denmark in 1917, according to America’s Library, a division of the Library of Congress.

Alan McPherson, a professor whose expertise includes U.S. foreign relations, U.S.-Latin American relations, and global issues, explained that territories were ways for nations, including the United States, to build their empires.

“To put it simply, nations have had overseas territories to enhance their imperial ambitions,” he said. “Overseas territories, for the French, British, American, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, or other empires, have served as linchpins for those empires.”

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were seized in order to be assets to the military, according to History.com.

McPherson said these territories still provide tactical advantages, which is one of the reasons why they’re still the property of the U.S. Like U.S. citizens in the states, citizens from these territories can serve in the U.S. military, and more military members come from U.S. territories than any state, according to the Harvard Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review.

Yet even as military members, these citizens still cannot vote in presidential elections. Some have challenged this in court, the Atlantic reported.

Civilian citizens have also challenged these laws. Puerto Rico has held referendums for statehood five times, NPR reported. There have also been organizations, like the American Bar Association, and voting rights advocacy groups, like Your Vote Your Voice, who have advocated for full voting rights for all territory citizens.

Rebeca L. Hey-Colón, a professor whose areas of expertise and research include Latinx studies and Caribbean studies, feels this lack of voting rights is one

LESLIE GROSSMAN / THE TEMPLE NEWS

of the ways people from territories are treated as second-class citizens.

She said in order to vote for president, citizens in territories have to become residents of a U.S. state. However, doing so would mean they could not vote in elections in their territory, NBC News reported.

These were all things Hey-Colón learned herself as she grew up. Although she wasn’t taught much about Puerto Rican history as a child, she sought out knowledge on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean herself when she went to college.

During her junior year abroad at Oxford University in England, she worked with Christian Campbell, a Rhodes Scholar from the Bahamas. Looking back at that moment, she sees a great irony.

“I realize this moment was deeply significant for us both as Caribbean people studying in elite institutions of the very countries that colonized us,” she

said.

For Lewis, the right to vote in a presidential election would mean being able to finally have a say in what happens to her island.

“We definitely need to have more of a say if the U.S. is going to have ownership over us,” she said.

Because Lewis cannot represent herself, she feels it is important for citizens from the states to be educated on issues in the territories.

“A lot of the decisions you make here [in the states] also affects us, and because we can make those decisions for ourselves, we can’t vote on our for our interests,” she said. “We kind of need you to do that for us, so it would benefit us a lot if you would educate yourself on the fact that we exist.” nicole.cisneros@temple.edu nicomcisneros

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SPORTS PAGE 21

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Guard rises to top of bench players in recent games

Monty Scott scored 25 points in Temple’s double-overtime win against Connecticut on Feb. 20.

BY ALEX McGINLEY Assistant Sports Editor Two years ago, redshirt-junior guard Monty Scott played nearly 900 miles from home. Now, he is just 80 miles away.

Scott is from Union, New Jersey but played first two seasons at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

He has become one of coach Aaron McKie’s most reliable bench players in his first season of eligibility with Temple University men’s basketball (14-13, 6-8 The American Athletic Conference).

During his sophomore year at Kennesaw State in 2017-18, Scott led the team with 17.3 points per game, which was third in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Scott also led Kennesaw State with 502 total points and 50 steals in 29 games.

This season, Scott is averaging 7.1 points, which is the highest among bench players.

Because he was unable to play last season due to NCAA transfer rules, Scott observed how the team operated before he got to play, which helped his performance this season, he said.

“It was good for me to see it better on my handle and my shot and stuff like that to just work out every day,” Scott said.

“It was good to take in the offense and understand what Temple was all about before I actually got into the rotation.”

Scott scored 22 points in Temple’s 97-90 overtime win against Southern Methodist (18-8, 8-6 The AAC) on Feb. 8, a then season-high. Scott played 36 minutes off the bench against the Mustangs due to the injuries of junior forwards J.P. Moorman II and De’Vondre Perry.

“I don’t think I doubted myself,” Scott said on Feb. 8. “I used to think back a lot to the player I was at Kennesaw, just being the leading scorer on that team @TTN_Sports

J.P. OAKES / THE TEMPLE NEWS Redshirt-junior guard Monty Scott attempts a layup during the Owls’ 93-89 win against Connecticut at the Liacouras Center on Feb. 20.

and scoring a lot of points for them. Just coming here and fitting into the system is kind of the thing to figure out. I just always knew that I could score and do multiple things for this team, but I never knew really when it was gonna come.”

Scott scored 16 points and played 29 minutes in Temple’s 72-68 win against Tulane (12-15, 4-11 The AAC) on Feb. 12. Scott surpassed his point total against SMU after he put up 25 points in 40 minutes in Temple’s 93-89 double-overtime win against Connecticut (15-12, 6-8 The AAC) on Feb. 20.

“It makes me really happy,” senior guard Quinton Rose said on Feb. 8. “I play against [Scott] every day in practice.

We guard each other. He’s a really tough guard, and I know he can score the ball.”

Scott made a three from the top of

the key with 21 seconds left in the first overtime period, which tied the game at 80 and forced double overtime.

“I think I’m kind of used to taking tough shots,” Scott said on Feb. 20. “Being at Kennesaw, I had to take a lot of contested shots. I mean it was a hard shot to make, but I was confident enough to put it down.”

After Scott’s 25-point outing against the Huskies, McKie said he would like Scott’s scoring to be more consistent, but he is still getting acclimated to playing at Temple.

“It’s a new environment for him,” McKie said. “You would like for it to happen right away, but he’s getting adjusted playing with these guys. He didn’t get the opportunity to play with them last year. They’re looking for him, and

that’s the good thing about this is they’re looking for him. He’s aggressive to score the ball, and I wanna continue to try to put him in position to do so.”

Scott scored 12 points while shooting 4-of-15 from the floor in the Owls’ 67-63 loss on the road against East Carolina on Feb. 23.

Even though he has played in all but two games this season and averaged 19.9 minutes per game, Scott still has to fight for more minutes off the bench, he said.

“It’s all on me,” Scott added on Feb. 20. “I gotta build my habits for the coach to trust me to consistently play this well.

I feel like it’s all on me and my consistency.” alex.mcginley@temple.edu @mcginley_alex

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SPORTS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

PAGE 22

MEN’S SOCCER

Rowland to ‘challenge’ team with spring schedule Spring matches allow coaches so far every guy is working on their own to evaluate players ahead of the and we all, we gel as a team,” Cayet said.

“I think as a team, as a leader I really want upcoming fall season.

BY SEAN McMENAMIN Men’s Soccer Beat Reporter For the first time since 2011, Temple University men’s soccer played a spring game against a United Soccer League team.

Every spring, coach Brian Rowland tries to give his players the most challenging schedule in order to evaluate their skills, he said.

“I think overall we want to make sure that the guys know what it’s like to win college games,” he added.

The Owls faced Loudoun United Football Club, from the United Soccer League, on Feb. 15. The team’s remaining spring schedule includes games against Navy, Loyola University Maryland, Penn State University and Drexel.

The Owls’ Fall 2020 season has not been announced.

For senior defender Pierre Cayet, the upcoming season is important as it is his last chance to make an impact, he said.

Cayet started all 18 games last season and recorded three goals and nine shots on goal.

“We got to make the most out of it,

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 DOUBLES Delmas’ efforts have made an impression on coach Steve Mauro, who has paired him with seniors like Eric Biscoveanu, Paolo Cucalon and Bohorquez throughout the season.

“We’ve been experimenting with [Delmas] in doubles,” Mauro said on

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to have an impact with the team and help every guys do their best.”

Cayet was most excited to play against Loudoun and is eager to face off against a college in the area, like Drexel, he said.

Temple will play the Dragons at home on April 18 at 6 p.m. The last time the Owls played Drexel was on Oct. 3, 2017. Temple won 4-0.

“We are excited to play against Drexel, you know it’s still a rivalry between us,” Cayet said. “So it’s going to be challenging and interesting to see how we do about, against other you know universities and colleges around here.”

The team needs to focus on the finer points of the game to make the NCAA Tournament, Cayet said.

Last season, the Owls averaged one goal per game and a 46.4 percent shot on goal percentage. Temple also committed 228 total fouls and was given 22 yellow cards.

“We had a great season last year but we got to still, you know, improve some details, and got to get better to make the NCAA Tournament,” Cayet said. “We were like really close, so it’s details at this point.”

Sophomore forward Sean Karani

scored three goals and added three assists in his first season with the Owls, but said he needs to provide more offense for the Owls.

“Hopefully the best way for me to help my team is to score more and to set my teammates up more,” Karani added.

Cayet said he wants to improve his passing accuracy.

In 2019, Temple was scoreless in its first three matches against Rutgers

University, Georgetown University and Villanova. The Owls lost the games by a combined score of 5-0.

“I’d say the biggest thing that we should work on is finishing our chances,” Karani said. “I felt like in our games we were the better team defensively. We controlled a lot of the games, just need to find the final product.”

Feb. 18. “Right now, he’s with [Biscoveanu], and hopefully it stays that way.

Ideally, the perfect partnership is a player like [Delmas] who is strong along the baseline with someone like [Biscoveanu] who is strong at the net so they can set each other up.”

Although Delmas and Cucalon won their match at George Washington, Temple’s other pairs struggled, and the Owls lost the doubles point at that

match.

Having Delmas as a reliable doubles player no matter his partner will provide versatility for the team going forward, Mauro said.

Before coming to Temple, Delmas was a standout athlete in Lorient.

He won the Junior Regional Championship in his junior season in high school and was a semi-finalist at last year’s Senior Regional Championship.

Delmas mostly played singles in France, but he has enjoyed learning to play doubles at Temple.

“The pressure isn’t affecting him at all,” Bohorquez said. “I think it’s making him play better. He’s very calm. He brings good energy to the team, and he wins matches.”

JULIA LARMA / THE TEMPLE NEWS Temple men’s soccer practices at the Temple Sports Complex on Feb. 19.

sean.mcmenamin@temple.edu @sean102400

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SPORTS PAGE 23

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

TRACK & FIELD

Distance runner finds confidence in final season Senior middle-distance runner Millie Howard broke an indoor track program record on Feb. 14.

BY DONOVAN HUGEL Track & Field Beat Reporter After breaking a fifth indoor track record, senior middle-distance runner Millie Howard believes she can qualify for the NCAA National Indoor Championship in the mile.

Howard ran a time of 4 minutes, 36.37 seconds, breaking Blanca Fernandez’s previous record of 4:40.60 set in 2015.

Fernandez graduated from Temple University in 2016. She set six program records and was Temple’s first cross country All-American.

“Those records had been sitting up there for a while, and [Fernandez] will be the first one to tell you, ‘Records are meant to be broken,’” said assistant track and field coach James Snyder, who is also the cross country coach.

Howard, who is from North Yorkshire, England, has broken six outdoor program records and five indoor records in her collegiate career. Two of those records were held by Fernandez.

Howard was also the only Temple athlete to earn a medal at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships in her freshman year.

Track and field coach Elvis Forde always knew Howard had the skillset to be like Fernandez, but her “perfectionist” mindset got in the way, he said. “[Howard] has the same qualities as [Fernandez], but the results haven’t always been there,” Forde said.

However, he is starting to see those results, he added.

It took some time for Howard to transition to the different lifestyle of the

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MARISA BRISBANE / COURTESY Senior middle distance runner Millie Howard runs at the Penn 8 Team Challenge at the Ocean Breeze Complex in Staten Island, New York on Jan. 18.

United States compared to England, she said.

“It’s difficult coming from a really small town in England where I was a big fish in a little pond,” Howard said. “Coming out here’s definitely been like a smaller version of that pond and sometimes that got in the way of things, but I’m glad that confidence has come finally.”

Part of Howard’s new-found confidence can be attributed to the 2019 cross country season. She earned All-Region honors and finished 22nd at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional with a time of 20:46 in the 6,000 meter.

“I had the attitude of, ‘It’s my last go around, might as well just go for it,’” Howard said. “It really worked for me, and I had my best cross country season, so I went into track season with that mindset. I’ve got nothing to lose. It’s my best shot, and that’s really helped me.”

Snyder has trained Howard yearround during her four seasons.

“A lot of her success during the current indoor season is a product of the most successful fall that she’s ever had,” Snyder said. “All that allowed her to be able to springboard into the indoor season a little bit further ahead of where

we’ve been in years past.”

Howard has yet to qualify for Nationals, but breaking the mile record was the moment she knew she belonged with the country’s best, she said.

“Recruiting her out of high school, we knew she was certainly capable of achieving great things,” Snyder said. “To be able to go through the progression and trajectory that she has is impressive.

She has a great opportunity to finish her last year strong.” donovan.hugel@temple.edu @donohugel

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SPORTS PAGE 24

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2020

MEN’S TENNIS

THE UNDEFEATED

Delmas has yet to lose a doubles Marin Delmas has been paired with a senior in all his doubles match, posting four wins, no losses and two games that went unfinished. matches this season.

BY JOHN KARAVIS For The Temple News

W

hen freshman Marin Delmas stepped on the practice court at Legacy Tennis Center on Feb. 18, his teammates erupted in applause and playfully slapped him on the back.

Despite being this season’s only freshman on Temple University men’s tennis (4-2, 1-0 The American Athletic Conference), Delmas, a native of Lorient, France, has excelled on the court and seamlessly integrated himself into the locker room, said Francisco Bohorquez, a senior.

In the Owls’ match with St. Francis College on Jan. 30, Delmas won his singles games by a combined score of 12-2, and in the following match against George Washington University on Feb. 9, Delmas won his matches 6-0 and 6-1.

Overall, he has four singles wins and two unfinished matches this season.

“Last year, I didn’t play this much,” Delmas said. “I was playing three times a week, but now I’m playing almost every day. It’s made me a better player for sure.”

DOUBLES | PAGE 22

JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Temple University freshman men’s tennis player Marin Delmas and senior teammate Paolo Cucalon practice at the Legacy Youth Tennis and Education Center on Feb. 21.

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