THE TEMPLE NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019
PREPARING
FOR COVID-19 Though there are no cases at Temple, administrators have taken several steps to prepare and educate students and faculty for the potential spread of the respiratory disease. Read more on Pages 4-5
WHAT’S INSIDE FEATURES, PAGE 13 Student-owned hair braiding businesses allow owners and customers to express their identities through natural hairstyles. INTERSECTION, PAGE 18 Transgender students explain the importance of representing trans women during Women’s History Month.
VOL 99 // ISSUE 22 MARCH 10, 2020
temple-news.com @thetemplenews
NEWS PAGE 2
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 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 Rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide have sold out at the Fresh Grocer on Broad and Oxford streets.
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.
News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com
ADMINISTRATION
Temple must produce full Jones Day report
The university released an 18, Fox misreported undergraduate excerpt of the outside report GPAs, the number of applicants it offered admissions and how many of to the public in July 2018. BY COLIN EVANS News Editor
T
emple University must turn over the full copy of an outside investigation into the Fox School of Business rankings scandal to lawyers for Moshe Porat, the former dean of the business school who is suing the university for defamation, as ordered by Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Daniel Anders on Feb. 26. The university must also produce minutes and agendas from meetings of its Board of Trustees and Compliance Committee from January to October 2018, brochures and social media posts that refer to Temple’s rankings, and phone logs and voicemails from several Temple employees. In turn, Porat’s lawyers must turn over communications with SRA Communications, a marketing firm, related to the lawsuit, as well as Porat’s federal and state tax returns for five years and relevant medical and psychological records. Porat’s legal team and Ray Betzner, a spokesperson for the university declined to comment. In January 2018, Temple announced Fox falsely reported its online MBA test scores to U.S. News and World Report, causing it to lose its No. 1 ranking. The university retained Jones Day, a law firm, to conduct an investigation into the business school’s rankings data and processes. An excerpt from the report, released in July 2018, found from 2015-
its entrants provided GMAT scores for several of its programs to U.S. News and World Report. The report alleged that Porat, who was dean from 1996 and fired in 2018, created a rankings-focused environment within Fox, disbanded a committee tasked with reviewing and approving rankings surveys in 2013, and directed an employee to misreport GMAT data to U.S. News and World Report in 2015. In May 2019, Porat announced that he was suing Temple and President Richard Englert for alleged defamatory statements included in the Jones Day excerpt and public statements the university made in the wake of the scandal, The Temple News reported. In a July 2019 court filing, Porat’s lawyers argued that because Temple published the Jones Day excerpt to justify its firing of Porat, the full copy of the report is “highly” relevant to the case. In response, Temple’s lawyers claimed attorney-client privilege over the full copy of the report. The judge in Porat’s case ruled on Feb. 26 that attorney-client privilege did not apply to the full copy of the report, however, Porat’s lawyers’ discovery request for communications and documents related to Jones Day’s internal investigation was denied without prejudice. The entire discovery process is set to end by Nov. 2, according to court documents. The full Jones Day report and Porat’s medical and psychological records will not immediately be made available to the public. colin.evans@temple.edu @colinpaulevans
temple-news.com
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
PAGE 3
CAMPUS
Student advocates for on-campus polling place Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania already have on-campus polling places. BY HAAJRAH GILANI For The Temple News Could students vote on Election Day without leaving Main Campus? The question is at the center of a Temple University student’s push to create an on-campus polling place in time for the upcoming presidential election. Quinn Litsinger, a sophomore political science major, has been working with university leadership and the Office of the City Commissioners to explore whether Main Campus could be home to a polling place on Nov. 3, wrote Litsinger, who is also Temple Student Government’s director of government affairs, in an email to The Temple News. “All the local community organizations that run the nearby polling places are great, but for students to have a place that’s convenient for them on campus throughout their day-day routine would really be a great way to increase civic engagement,” Litsinger said in an interview with The Temple News. Last week, Temple’s Office of Governmental Affairs met with staff from the Office of the Philadelphia City Commissioners and discussed the requirements for a voting center on campus, Litsinger wrote. A polling place would need a hardwired internet connection, access to power for a printer, and to be in a building that is publicly accessible, he wrote. The commissioner’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Providing students an on-campus polling place would not only increase civic engagement for students but also decrease the burden on the community when students vote in high numbers, Litsinger wrote. In the 2019 general election, there were 17 polling places between 9th and 18th streets and Jefferson Street and Susquehanna Avenue, according to data from the Office of the Philadelphia City @TheTempleNews
ZARI TARAZONA / FILE PHOTO Scott Vassa, a 2019 junior art therapy alumnus, accepts a local candidate’s flyer on his way into Amos Recreation Center to vote in the 2018 midterm election. Now, a student is advocating for an on-campus polling place for November’s presidential election.
Commissioners. In the 2016 presidential election, students had to wait in lines for as long as four hours before casting their ballots at polling places like the Penrose Recreation Center on Susquehanna Avenue near 11th Street, The Temple News reported. The University of Pennsylvania has several polling locations on campus, according to Penn Leads the Vote, a civic engagement organization at UPenn. All students in resident halls at Drexel University vote on-campus in the Drexel Armory on 33rd Street near Cuthbert, according to the university’s website. Litsinger has considered the Student Center as a polling location because it does not require an ID to enter, though
nothing is set in stone, Litsinger wrote. Litsinger’s efforts are part of a wider push to increase student civic engagement by Temple Votes, a working group of students and administrators formed in December 2019, said Chris Carey, the university’s senior associate dean of students. Turnout among 18-34-year-olds in Philadelphia increased by 111 percent in the 2018 midterm election relative to 2014, WHYY reported. Rehana Ramcharitar, a senior criminal justice and Spanish double major, said she is registered to vote at her parent’s house in Northeast Philadelphia because she has heard “horror stories” about long lines near campus. “I think it would be a good idea to
have a polling place on campus because it couldn’t hurt to have one more polling place in such a densely populated area, especially because community members have to vote here as well,” Ramcharitar said. Jacob Marder, a freshman political science major, said knowing where to vote can be confusing because resident halls have different polling locations. “Having a place to vote on campus would make it a lot easier for me to vote while attending classes,” Marder said. It would mean that I would be able to go in between classes instead of having to go to the polling place in the morning or night.” haajrah.gilani@temple.edu
News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com
NEWS PAGE 4
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
CAMPUS
Temple prepares students, faculty for COVID-19 Cases of the disease have cropped around the state, but there are none at Temple. BY VALERIE DOWRET Assistant News Editor Like any warm day, crowds of students gathered on Beury Beach, enjoying the sun as temperatures reached the 70s on Monday. But as students return from Spring Break, they, along with Temple University faculty and administrators, are grappling with questions surrounding how the worldwide spread of COVID-19, a strain of the coronavirus, will affect the rest of their semester. “People have been talking and they’re preparing for something, and everyone is like ‘Oh, they’re going to cancel’ or ‘Oh, we are going to have online classes for the rest of the semester,’” said Olga Ramirez, a sophomore social work major. “So I’m like, which one is it?” Camryn Cobos, a freshman political science and communication studies major, said she is not concerned about being on campus in light of COVID-19 but wonders what will happen. “I’m not nervous,” Cobos said. “I’m just confused as to what’s next.” Though no one at Temple is presumed to have COVID-19, the university has imposed a slew of travel restrictions and changes to its study abroad programs to protect students and slow the virus’ potential spread. Students and professors are also preparing for the possibility of classes moving online, and some university departments are preparing to offer their services remotely. As of Monday evening, there have been 113,800 COVID-19 cases reported worldwide, the New York Times reported. Several hundreds of positive cases were confirmed nationwide. There are 10 presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, including seven in Montgomery County, one in Delaware County, one in Wayne CounNews Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com
JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Students sit under the Bell Tower and on Beury Beach on March 9, the first day of classes after Spring Break.
ty and one in Monroe County, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. New Jersey has reported 11 presumed positive cases, including one in Cherry Hill, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Philadelphia health officials are investigating five people for possible cases, CBS3 reported. Here’s what you need to know about the virus and the measures Temple, other universities and health officials have taken to combat its spread. WHAT IS COVID-19? COVID-19 is a part of the coronavirus family, which causes respiratory tract diseases and illnesses. Symptoms of the virus include having a fever, coughing and having difficulty breathing, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The disease was first discovered in Wuhan, China, in late December 2019 and is believed to have started in a poultry and seafood market, the New York Times reported. The CDC advises people with symptoms to contact a health care professional if they have been in contact with someone with COVID-19, live in an area or have recently traveled from an area with an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Recent reports say the incubation period is five days, meaning it could take five days for symptoms to appear. Still, a person may not show symptoms and be contagious, therefore people should self-isolate for 14 days. To avoid the virus, do not touch your mouth, eyes or nose, avoid close contact with people who are sick and wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with hot water, the CDC advises.
Students who traveled to any area where there are cases of COVID-19 should monitor how they are feeling and consult Student Health Services or their doctor if they begin to develop symptoms, said Krys Johnson, an epidemiology and biostatistics professor at Temple. Those who are not experiencing symptoms should still disinfect common areas like refrigerator, cabinet and door handles, Johnson added. The CDC also advises people to disinfect laptops and phone screens. “My grandma is convinced I’m going to get coronavirus from Temple, so I Lysoled my entire apartment,” said Jessie Lonon, a sophomore horticulture major. “Cloroxed everything, cleaned door handles, doorknobs, bathrooms, windows, everything, cleaned the sheets, even cleaned my carpet after my landlord gives a showing.” temple-news.com
NEWS PAGE 5
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
TEMPLE’S PRECAUTIONS Students returning from China, Japan, South Korea, Iran and Italy have been advised to self-quarantine and stay away from Main Campus for 14 days. Temple suspended university-affiliated travel to Italy, China, South Korean and all other locations to which the U.S. Department of State has advised against travel. Student Health Services is also monitoring students who are abroad, said Mark Denys, the director of Student Health Services. Temple Rome has been suspended, and after moving classes online on March 2, Temple Japan will continue to host online classes this week before re-evaluating the situation. On Monday, President Richard Englert and Provost JoAnne Epps announced that Temple faculty have been advised to prepare to transition in-person classes to online in case the university cancels in-person meetings. This week, Temple’s Center for Advancement of Teaching is holding workshops on Zoom, a video messaging application, and working with professors to transition their courses online, said Stephanie Ives, the university’s dean of students. The Fox Online and Digital Learning department is also holding daily training sessions to help faculty learn how to use Zoom, wrote Debbie Campbell, the senior vice dean at the Fox School of Business, in an email to The Temple News. The College of Public Health is recording class lectures and making them available to students if they miss class because they are quarantining themselves, Johnson said. Many faculty in the business school are doing the same, Campbell said. Additionally, several university offices that offer one-on-one services to students, like Tuttleman Counseling Services, the Student Success Center and academic advising offices, are considering how they can offer their services remotely, Ives said. At a Temple Student Government town hall on Monday, Ives asked students in attendance to raise their hands if their professors had discussed the possibility of classes moving online. More than half of the approximately 100 in attendance raised their hands.
@TheTempleNews
Sadie Woodring, a senior biology major, said one of her professors changed her attendance policy in light of COVID-19. “She was very strict on only allowing the two absences and took attendance every time, and now it’s, ‘Don’t come if you’re sick,’” Woodring said. Other universities, like Princeton University, the University of Washington and Columbia University have temporarily moved classes online to prevent the spread of COVID-19, several news outlets reported. Temple Athletics has not changed any scheduled events, said Larry Doughtery, the university’s senior associate athletic director. The NCAA has not recommended canceling athletic events, according to a March 6 statement from the NCAA’s COVID-19 Advisory Panel. STATE, WORLD RESPONSE Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed a declaration of disaster emergency on Friday to increase funding for state agencies responding to COVID-19, The Temple News reported. Both New Jersey and New York have declared states of emergencies due to cases, as well, NBC4 reported. Simmons Elementary School, Neshaminy High School, Buckingham Friends School, Henderson High School, Cheltenham School District schools and the Lower Merion School District have temporarily closed as a precaution, CBS3 reported. Around the world, Italy announced travel restrictions, Iran suspended flights to Europe, and the United States warned citizens against cruise travel, the Washington Post reported. In the university-wide announcement, Englert wrote that the university’s top goal is to keep students safe while maintaining its high-quality education. “We also want to tell you what medical experts have repeatedly told us: This is not a time for panic, but for preparation in order to make well-informed decisions,” Englert wrote. valerie.dowret@temple.edu @Vdowret Madison Karas, Bibiana Correa and Colin Evans contributed reporting.
Temple’s Responses to COVID-19
JAN
24
JAN
International SOS, Temple’s emergency international security service, advises against traveling to the Chinese cities Chibi, Ezhou, Huangang, Lichaun and Wuhan
30
Temple suspends university-affiliated student travel to mainland China
03
Faculty travel to mainland China is suspended
28
Temple Japan announces it will hold classes online for two weeks
FEB FEB FEB
29
MAR
04
MAR
06
MAR
09
Temple Rome announces it will suspend in-person classes and students must return home Students returning from countries designated by the CDC as having sustained transmission must self-monitor for 14 days, the university announces Temple suspends university-affiliated international travel by students, faculty and staff to countries with a Level 1 or higher designation for COVID-19 Faculty must develop contingency plans to teach courses online, and students should prepare as well, the university announces
News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com
NEWS PAGE 6
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
COMMUNITY
Developer joins Special Services District board Herb Reid, who co-founded the Temple Area Property Association, was elected on March 5. BY COLIN EVANS News Editor When a developer left a mess of rubble on a property across the street from Kenny Turner’s house on 15th Street near Norris, he decided to complain to Herb Reid, a local developer not affiliated with the property. Reid listened to Turner and came by to clean the mess up and reinstall a fence that had been knocked down. “He didn’t have to do that, but he did it because he showed that he cared,“ Turner said. Reid, a West Philadephia resident and co-founder of the Temple Area Property Association, a local group of property owners, was elected to serve on the board of the North Central Special Services District on March 5. He was elected unanimously among board members at their March meeting, wrote Tara Miller, the district’s executive director, in an email to The Temple News. He will fill the spot left by Estelle Wilson, a longtime community matriarch who served as the board’s vice president until her death in November 2019. The North Central Special Services District was formed in April 2019 with five spots reserved for community residents and four for Temple staff. The district was initially met with opposition from residents who viewed it as the university’s way to temper anger over its proposed on-campus stadium, The Temple News reported. “The Board recognized Mr. Reid as a responsible landlord who has remained in the areas for many years,” Miller wrote. “They hope he can bring a perspective to the board of a business partner in the community and can be a liaison to the other landlords.” Since its formation, the special services district has expanded Allied Universal security patrols off-campus and employed One Day At A Time, a local News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com
COLIN EVANS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Herb Reid, a local developer, stands on an apartment complex work site on Dauphin Street near Carlisle on March 9.
substance abuse recovery organization to perform street sweeping four days a week, The Temple News reported. The district is continuing its beautification work and is planning cleanup efforts the period at the end of the semester when students move out of their apartments, Miller wrote. Reid’s company Maze Group Development, Inc. manages 35 properties in the Temple area, he said. The change Reid has seen in the neighborhood’s real estate market is like “night and day” as the quality of housing for students has greatly increased while long-time residents are pushed out, he said. “The neighborhood’s going to get so much better for people that are coming for two and three years,” Reid said. “I think it also needs to also improve for people who have been there 50 years, 30 years.” Maze is in the process of building a 52-unit affordable housing complex for
seniors on Dauphin Street near Carlisle, Reid said. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2020, Reid said. Reid will provide a valuable connection to local developers, Turner said. “We probably will be able to get a lot more done, or, again, perhaps he can get with them and let them take care of some of the financial responsibility because a lot of the cleaning involves areas where the development is,” he said. “And why should the university be the one who has to foot the bill by itself?” Reid was previously involved in unsuccessful efforts to create a proposed neighborhood improvement district that would address trash and noise issues, in 2012, Reid said. Reid attributes noise and trash issues in the neighborhood to absentee landlords who do not monitor student tenants’ behavior. “If you don’t have people on the ground, paying attention, really con-
cerned with what’s happening with the rental properties in the neighborhood, you know, things can go a little haywire,” he said. But landlords cannot address the neighborhood’s issues on their own, Reid added. “I think the special services district is really … the piece that’s been missing within the neighborhood, to, really, kind of bring it all together,” he said. “To make sure that, as it’s grown, as a lot of resources have been put into the neighborhood, additional resources need to be met to be able to make that sustainable and really support the growth that is happening in the neighborhood.” colin.evans@temple.edu @colinpaulevans
Valerie Dowret contributed reporting. temple-news.com
OPINION TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
PAGE 7 EDITORIAL
Take COVID-19 seriously On Jan. 30, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus to be a global health emergency. As of Monday, there are 113, 800 cases of COVID-19, the strain of the disease, the New York Times Reported. Amid the outbreak, Temple University administration suspended in-person classes at Temple University Rome and sent students home on Feb. 29 and Temple University Japan announced classes will be conducted online until at least March 16, The Temple News reported. President Richard Englert advised all faculty and students to prepare for the possibility of moving their courses online on Monday, The Temple News reported. While there are no positive cases of COVID-19 at Temple’s or in Philadelphia, there are seven presumed positive cases of COVID-19 in Montgomery County, one in Wayne County, one in Monroe County and one in Delaware County as of Monday evening, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. We must take proper precautions to limit COVID-19’s spread. COVID-19 causes respiratory tract diseases and illnesses ranging from the common cold to severe pneumonia, The Temple News reported. Current symptoms reported among people with COVID-19 include mild-to-severe respiratory illness with fever, cough and difficulty breathing, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-19 is spread through saliva or respiratory droplets, similar to the transmission of flu. Close contact or contact within six feet of an infected person who coughs or sneezes aids the person-to-person spread of COVID-19, accord@TheTempleNews
ing to the CDC. If you traveled to any of the countries under a travel advisory listed by the CDC, The Editorial Board asks that you obey the university’s request to self-quarantine for at least 14 days. Due to the infectious nature of the disease and the absence of a vaccine to help prevent it, students should avoid close contact with individuals who display symptoms and stay at home when experiencing fever or cough. In addition, we should practice good respiratory hygiene in accordance with the standards set by the CDC and WHO. This includes covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and then promptly disposing of the used tissue. It is important to wash your hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds, especially before eating, after blowing your nose or coughing and after using the bathroom to kill germs present on your hands. The CDC advises to always wash hands with soap and water if they are visibly dirty and use hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol when water is not readily available. Frequently touched objects and surfaces, like smartphones and laptops, should also be regularly disinfected to protect against the virus. During this time of heightened panic, the Editorial Board would also advise students to closely monitor the spread of the virus through reputable news sources and the CDC in order to combat the rampant spread of misinformation. The Temple community should carefully follow the instructions and preventative measures outlined by the CDC and WHO during this medical crisis.
THE ESSAYIST
My Blackness and my class aren’t mutually exclusive
But what made my childhood special is A student discusses how the media that I was raised in Worcester, Massachuportrays race and class issues as setts, with the largest Ghanian population separate things.
BY ALVIRA BONSU For The Temple News
W
hen I was growing up, my mom always stressed keeping CNN on in the living room. Even if we weren’t paying attention to the TV, she thought hearing it in the background would make us more well-informed and well-functioning adults. Today, watching CNN all the time feels familiar, and when I’m homesick, I turn it on to feel connected to my family. But with the presidential election approaching, political commentators on media outlets make distinctions between working-class voters and Black voters, as if the two identities are mutually exclusive. Reporters justified why Iowa, one of the whitest states in the nation, was first to vote by saying that these voters are everyday working-class people, living in rural America and feeling like they have been forgotten. If we want to know what Black voters are thinking, they said we just have to wait until South Carolina’s primary, where the Black population is one of the highest in the nation. I felt dumbfounded because, to me, the “Black” experience was the working-class experience. It does not mean that these are not different, my working-class experience should not be discounted or erased because I’m Black. My life has been a symbol of the intersection between race and class. I have not navigated my life living solely as a Ghanaian American or solely as a working class person, because I am both. My family has always been like most working-class families in America. We worried about health insurance, immigration, higher education costs and property taxes.
in the country. Most of my neighborhood looked like me, ate the same food as me and spoke or at least understood Twi, a Ghanaian language. As a Ghanian raised in a community like this, my childhood was a racial utopia: I knew I was Black, but I never had to think about it. I only began to consider it recently because this narrative distinguishing between working-class and Black people was being forced down my throat by political commentators on TV. I resonated more with discussions about job opportunities, low wages and lower prescription drug prices because those have affected my family. I guess this is why I never had to really think about my Blackness, because my experience is not what most people associate as the normal Black experience, involving street violence, lower education standards, poverty and broken families. Therefore, I was so disappointed because the same news station my mom stood by lacked the proper perspective. As a Black person, my working-class struggles have been my biggest challenges. I’ve struggled with getting a quality primary education, my family has struggled with housing prices, school prices, health insurance and car and house loans. Being a part of the working class is not a Black or white issue. Those two are intersectional identities and if anything, my Blackness has only made my working-class struggles worse. But acting as if my race is separate from my working-class issues is more destructive than acknowledging the effect race and class have on one another. alvira.bonsu@temple.edu
letters@temple-news.com
OPINION TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
PAGE 8
LGBTQ
Supreme Court: Support LGBTQ foster parents sider qualified same-sex couples to become foster parents – even when these couples would be a safe, loving family for the child,” Pratt said. “In doing so, CSS defied the City’s nondiscrimination policy, as reflected in its original contract and reaffirmed in the most recent contract offered to all foster care providers.” In July 2018, a federal judge ruled that the City of Philadelphia did not violate CSS’s religious liberties by suspending their contract, the Inquirer reported. Unsatisfied, CSS appealed the case, and lost again to the City of Philadelphia when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit made the same ruling in April 2019, the Inquirer further reported. The Supreme Court will hear a second appeal by CSS in the fall. With a 5-4 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, this case has the potential to affect LGBTQ in the future through judicial precedent.
A Philadelphia foster care agency refuses to place children with qualified, same-sex couples. As a bisexual individual raised in a conservative Christian religion, I’m no stranger to the way religion are used to justify homophobia. Before I turned 18, I internalized a TYLER PEREZ OPINION EDITOR narrative telling me I was disgusting, impure and unholy for something I couldn’t change. Since then, I’ve embraced my identity while retaining a deep respect for others’ religious beliefs. But every time I see religion used as a means to justify homophobia, I can’t help but feel so unyieldingly enraged. When I saw homophobic discrimination by Christian agency take place in my own city, I was heartbroken. On Feb. 24, the Supreme Court of the United States announced it would hear a legal case between the City of Philadelphia and Catholic Social Services, which provides help to children and special needs population, which focuses on the placement of foster children with same-sex couples, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The case, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, is a monumental moment for the future of LGBTQ equality, with the potential to determine the legality of religion-backed, anti-LGBTQ discrimination in the future. In 2018, two Philadelphia Christian foster care agencies, Bethany Christian Services and CSS, refused to place foster children with same-sex couples, the Inquirer reported that year. “I feel like CSS is looking at same-sex partnership as something that’s immoral, something that’s wrong, when in reality,
letters@temple-news.com
REINFORCING A FALSE NARRATIVE
MUSTABIN HOSSAIN / THE TEMPLE NEWS
because of that mindset, we’re depriving youth of things they need,” said Corem Coreano, youth coordinator for Galaei, a queer latinx social justice organization in Philadelphia. “We’re creating more housing insecurity, we’re creating more stigma around youth trying to explore their identity or feeling like they’re not accepted.” Both agencies had contracts with the City of Philadelphia for decades. Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services enacts a fair practices ordinance in all city contracts, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation for all contracted organizations, the Inquirer reported.
“The City of Philadelphia is proud of our longstanding commitment to supporting freedom of religion and preserving equal access to services for all people,” wrote Marcel Pratt, the city solicitor, in a Feb. 24 press release. “Abiding by that commitment is central to any contract that the city enters into.” Both agencies were violating this ordinance, and at the time, DHS was unaware of these practices. While Bethany agreed to change its policy, CSS never did. That year, the city suspended its contract with CSS, and the agency promptly sued. “Unfortunately, CSS refused to con-
Asking how LGBTQ rights could affect children isn’t anything new — that tired narrative has been a conservative talking point for decades. “Using children in this way is nothing new,” said Brad Windhauser, a gender, sexuality and women’s studies professor, whose research focuses on LGBTQ studies. “When it was illegal for people of different races to get married, one of the arguments used was, ‘Think of the children that they’ll have.’ So even that argument’s nothing new, and it sort of plays on these emotional appeals and these sorts of fears.” When California lawmakers tried to ban same-sex marriage through Proposition 8 in 2008, the bill’s advertising used this same rhetoric by asking voters how gay marriage could “confuse” children, Windhauser said. Children raised by same-sex parents
temple-news.com
OPINION TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
report no difference in their emotional, social or education development compared to their peers raised by heterosexual parents, according to a three-decadelong study by the Medical Journal of Australia. In fact, the majority of studies on the well-being of children raised by gay and lesbian parents find that these children do not fare any worse than their peers, according to the Public Policy Research Portal at Cornell University. “I think people historically have looked to any and all reasons to support their bigotry, and they’ve done it in a number of different ways,” Windhauser said. “In this particular case, they’re clinging to very outdated stereotypes.” In Philadelphia, there were 700 children living in group home placements, with 250 that could be living with a family, the Inquirer reported in March 2018. Philadelphia DHS is in need of emergency placements for a number of those children, and put out an urgent call for foster parents in 2018. “Our nation is in the midst of a foster care crisis,” wrote Ryan Colby, media relations manager for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit legal institute representing CSS, in a Feb. 24 press release. “There is a shortage of families and a surplus of at-risk children due in part to the opioid epidemic. Religious agencies like CSS are particularly successful at placing high-risk children (those with disabilities, large sibling groups, and older children) in loving families.” But by drawing from this narrative, CSS and other conservative groups aren’t helping any children — rather, they’re neglecting them. The case could affect over 400,000 children living in foster care across the nation, with a severe shortage of foster families available, wrote Leslie Cooper, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union LGBT and HIV Project, in an email statement to The Temple News. “Allowing foster care agencies to exclude qualified families based on reli-
@TheTempleNews
PAGE 9
gious requirements that have nothing to do with the ability to care for a child such as their sexual orientation or faith would make it even worse,” Cooper further wrote. “We can’t afford to have loving families turned away or deterred by the risk of discrimination.” When it comes to the placement of foster children in safe and loving families, the needs of those children must come first — not outdated, homophobic ideologies. “Children deserve to have a fun, happy, safe and loving family, and what CSS is doing is depriving them of that because it’s not what is accepted in their institution,” Coreano said. Jessica Traxler, a sophomore sociology and geography and urban studies major and a member of the LGBTQ community, lived in foster care for 10 years growing up, moving to seven different houses over that time. She moved around so often because there was never a home accepting of her sexual orientation, Traxler said. “The foster care overload isn’t just in Philly, it’s all over the world,” Traxler said. “There’s so many places that don’t have foster parents but they have parents that are completely willing to take in kids, and I think starting in Philly, it’s only going to take off, especially in places that are already hesitant to same-sex couples, and we have an overwhelming amount of foster kids.”
THE IMPACT
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of CSS, they could be giving religious institutions the legal opportunity to circumvent anti-discrimination law while receiving government funding, Buzzfeed News reported. It’s not the first time that cases surrounding religion and anti-LGBTQ discrimination have reached the Supreme Court. In 2012, a same-sex couple in Colorado seeking a wedding cake filed a discrimination lawsuit against a bakery that
refused to provide service on account of ered enacting an executive order with their religious opposition to gay mar- the same purpose, but further action was riage, Vox reported. In June 2018, the never taken, NPR further reported. Supreme Court ruled in favor of that If the Supreme Court decides in fabaker. vor of CSS, bills like the First AmendBut that decision focused on the ment Defense Act and Trump’s executive state government’s hostility toward the order could become a reality — federally baker, with the Supreme Court agreeing legalized, state-sanctioned homophobia that the discrimination was unlawful, could become our reality. which leaves the question of religion and “It’s more than a fear of gay couples, homophobic discrimination largely un- it’s a fear of the whole LGBTQ commuanswered at the judicial level. nity as a whole,” Traxler said. “I’m curIn October 2019, the Supreme Court rently in a relationship with somebody began hearing a set of cases determining that’s the opposite gender, so is the fact whether Title VII of that I’m bisexual so the Civil Rights Act unknown that it’s of 1964, which profine? And if they find hibits job discrimiout, what would be nation on the basis those repercussions?” of one’s identity, inReligious exempcludes protections for tions to anti-discrimLGBTQ individuals, ination laws already The New York Times exist to varying dereported. grees in eight differThe Supreme ent states, according Court has yet to rule to the Human Rights on those cases. Watch, and this case Fulton v. Philaprovides the oppordelphia could draw tunity for that numfrom constitutional ber to rise. protections of reliGiven that Fulgious freedom under ton v. Philadelphia the First Amendment Corem Coreano affects our own city, to provide an exemp- Galaei Youth Coordinator those exemptions tion to anti-discrimination law on the could very well come to Pennsylvania. basis of religious beliefs, Slate reported. The thought that my closest friends and That’s a dangerous precedent to set be- I could suffer from legal discrimination cause it gives religious institutions the because of this case’s potential is absolegal basis to justify blatant homophobia lutely terrifying. in a variety of settings — not just in the But this case isn’t just a local issue foster care system. anymore — its potential ramifications Such attempts have already been could affect LGBTQ rights across the made. In 2015, for example, Sens. Mike country. It’s one of the most important Lee (R-Utah) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Supreme Court cases of our generation, introduced the First Amendment De- with our jobs, education and children at fense Act to Congress, a bill that would stake. prevent the federal government from Civil rights are non-negotiable — repunishing individuals and religious in- gardless of religion. The Supreme Court stitutions that are religiously opposed cannot forget that. to same-sex marriage, NPR reported in tyler.perez@temple.edu 2019. @tyler7perez President Donald Trump consid-
Children deserve to have a fun, happy, safe and loving family, and what CSS is doing is depriving them of that because it’s not what is accepted in their institution.
letters@temple-news.com
OPINION PAGE 10
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
HEALTH
Juul: Stop advertising to children, young adults Thirty-nine states are investi- tobacco products pose similar health 2.4 percent in 2012-13 to 7.6 percent in gating Juul’s advertisements on risks, and Juul’s marketing to children 2018, according to the Truth Initiative, and teens has dangerous implications. a leading public health nonprofit fopopular children’s websites. We’re bombarded with advertisements all the time — whether it be television commercials or suggested ads on social media, it is unavoidable. CHRISTINA But Juul Labs MITCHELL Inc., an electronic HEALTH BEAT COLUMNIST cigarette brand, has been expanding its advertisements to one of our most vulnerable and easily influenced populations — children. On Feb. 25, 39 state attorneys, including Pennsylvania State Attorney Josh Shapiro, launched an investigation into Juul’s advertising toward youth populations, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The investigation will evaluate the company’s alleged targeting of children, its assertions with respect to nicotine content and risks, and the safety and efficacy of it as a smoking cessation device, the Huffington Post reported. Juul is accused of advertising on popular children’s websites, like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Seventeen magazine, Reuters reported. In addition to this investigation, the company has faced several lawsuits in the past claiming it internationally advertises to teens. While Juul is not the only e-cigarette company young adults use, it amasses 70 percent of the e-cigarette market, with its social media use — especially apps like Twitter, which are popular among children and young adults — contributing largely to its success, Business Insider reported. Nine states have temporarily banned the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, according to Tobacco Free Kids, but e-cigarette use is on the rise. These letters@temple-news.com
This lawsuit is finally holding e-cigarette companies accountable for their actions, wrote Ryan Coffman, tobacco policy and control program manager for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, in an email to The Temple News. “Evidence is mounting that Juul was aware of the early youth uptake of Juul that normalized and popularized vaping for scores of young people soon after Juul’s launch,” Coffman wrote. “At this time, Juul purposefully chose to prioritize amassing profits over protecting youth from deceptive marketing and extremely high nicotine content of their products.” Juul’s targeting of children is a popular marketing strategy with the intent of producing lifelong customers, said Jamie Magee, the director of tobacco prevention and control services at the Health Promotion Council. “Youth tobacco use gets people hooked at a young age before they can make good decisions for themselves,” Magee said. “Tobacco companies hope they can get lifelong smokers and make a lot of money off of them for the rest of their lives.” Seventy-three percent of adolescents aged 13-17 reported being exposed to e-cigarette advertisements recently, according to a 2019 study by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. In response to this lawsuit, Juul spokesman Austin Finan said the corporation would make an effort to curtail underage tobacco use and discourage adults from using combustible cigarettes, the Inquirer reported. But rather than combating underage smoking, Juul is adding fuel to the fire by advertising to children and young adults. Rates of frequent e-cigarette use among young adults increased from
cused on curtailing tobacco use. About 5.4 million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fifty-nine percent of high school students that reported vaping nicotine said their preferred e-cigarette was Juul, NPR reported in November 2019, and increases in youth e-cigarette use paralleled increases in Juul sales since 2017, according to the CDC. Using nicotine products like Juuls before the age of 25 can harm the developing brain, affecting attention, mood, learning and impulse control, according to the CDC. “E-cigarettes are not safe and can cause irreversible lung damage and disease,” wrote Lance Boucher, senior division director of the American Lung Association, in an email to The Temple News. “No one should use these or any other tobacco products.” Nevertheless, Juul and other electronic cigarette companies continued to gear their content to minors, especially through flavored pods that are appealing to children, like fruit and creme. Before the Food and Drug Administration banned flavored e-cigarettes in January, Juul’s mint-flavored pods were the most popular flavor of e-cigarettes for high school students, CNBC reported in November 2019. “Juul took a page from their old playbooks but modernized their messages to today’s youth by using event based marketing, giving away free samples, glamorizing products [and] using young models and social media influencers who appeal to younger audiences,” Magee said. We cannot allow our children to be exposed to tobacco advertising at such a young age. It’s dangerous, irresponsible and ultimately unethical. christina.mitchell@temple.edu
E-CIG STATS
69.3% of U.S. middle and high school students reported exposure to e-cigarette advertising
35%
of U.S. middle and high school students have tried an e-cigarette before
53.3%
of these students said they began smoking because they were curious about it
20%
have used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days Source: United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention temple-news.com
FEATURES TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
PAGE 11
COMMUNITY
Cooking program educates North Philly students A professor helped create an afterschool food education program with a nearby YMCA. BY EMMA PADNER For The Temple News
H
alf of the schools nationwide require K-8 students to receive nutrition education. Only 40 percent of ninth and 10th graders and 20 percent of 11th and 12th graders have these requirements, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. To help provide more of this education locally, Gina Tripicchio, a social and behavioral science professor, helped create an after-school cooking program for students at the Columbia North YMCA on Broad Street near Master. The free classes are a collaboration with the Office of Community-Engaged Research and Practice at Temple University, a partnership between Temple, local organizations and community members, and the Vetri Community Partnership, a community health programming initiative. In September 2019, 15 children aged 8-12 attended the 10-week course where they learned about healthy cooking and nutrition. This semester, the second session started on Feb. 27 and teaches teenagers cooking skills. Learning how to cook is an easy skill for kids to grasp and share with others, Tripicchio said. “Rather than being like, ‘Here’s what a carbohydrate is’ or ‘Here’s what you should eat,’ cooking is a really hands-on, applied way to learn, and it’s also a skill that kids can use over and over again,” she added. The program was created after the North Columbia YMCA reached out to the Office of Community-Engaged Re-
@TheTempleNews
search and Practice about creating new programs for students there, Tripicchio said. She was immediately interested in creating a collaboration to benefit the North Philadelphia community. The classes are taught by Katie Green, Vetri Community Center cooking instructor at the Stephen Klein Wellness Center on Cecil B. Moore Avenue near 22nd Street. Volunteers from Temple, like Danielle Gartner, a senior public health major, and Sara Kovacs, a kinesiology professor, help her with instructions. Green asks students if they made any of the recipes at home, and some have, she added. “They tried to make meals for their family for dinner,” Green said. “They all participated as a family which is really nice as well. It makes me happy to hear that. I even had one student say he’s going to be a chef when he grows up, which I would love to see that happen.” Nutrition education is important to her because she sees a disconnect between younger people and understanding where their food comes from, Green added. “They don’t think about if it’s really food or processed or genetically modified or full of pesticides or anything like that,” Green said. “I love that this class gets them thinking about where their food sources are coming from … because at the end of the day it affects their health long term.” Khaleef Agbemehia, a 12-year-old student at Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey Public School, attended several classes and likes learning about new foods and techniques. His favorite dish they cooked is broccoli tater tots, he said. “I don’t really like broccoli, but that tasted good,” he added. Gartner taught mini-lessons to stu-
JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Gina Tripicchio, a professor of social and behavioral science, works in her office at Temple University Hospital on Feb. 10. Tripicchio helped start an after-school cooking class at the Columbia North YMCA on Broad Street near Master.
dents about macronutrients, like carbs, fats and proteins. She took for granted her knowledge and access to food as a child, and enjoys being able to provide education and empowering kids through food, she said. Kovacs also helps assist Green in the classroom. Some of her favorite dishes the kids cooked are cauliflower fried rice, homemade breakfast sandwiches and rainbow egg rolls. Students seemed to be inspired to help their parents more in the kitchen and were excited to show whoever picked them up what they cooked that day, Kovacs said. “They wanted [their parents] to try the food they made that day so I think by offering them the opportunity to not only learn but have a skill that they could
take home and show other people,” Kovacs added. “I think that they really enjoyed that component.” Tripicchio hopes that in the future, the groups will be able to run two sessions at a time — one for younger students and one for older students. It has been rewarding for her to see that the model they created for these classes is sustainable, she added. “It was great to bring awareness to some of the resources that are in North Philadelphia for people who live, work and play there to know that these things exist and there are opportunities for them to be engaged in healthy lifestyles,” she said. emma.padner@temple.edu @emmapadner
features@temple-news.com
FEATURES PAGE 12
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
FASHION
Clothing company ‘celebrates’ Senegalese culture
A student designs clothes that are produced in Senegal and shipped to him in Philadelphia. BY MEREDITH HAAS For The Temple News Donning long, large sleeved, colorful patterns hand-woven across his shirts, many of Souleyman Gackou’s friends at Temple University asked him where they could buy similar clothing. Seeing an absence of African garments in mainstream fashion, Gackou, a junior mechanical engineering major, created King Souleyman Enterprises, a small business of printed shirts, dresses and jewelry produced in Dakar, Senegal. Gackou distributes and sells the clothing online, in pop-up shops around Philadelphia and on Main Campus. “Right now, King Souleyman Enterprises is just a clothing line, but it is bigger than just clothing,” Gackou said. “There are a lot of people who want these products so they can promote their culture, so I thought, why don’t I provide that service.” Gackou was born in Philadelphia and moved to Senegal when he was 2 years old, where he lived with his family until 2012. His parents are from Senegal and came to the United States in 1994. Gackou finished high school in the U.S., enrolled at Temple in 2018, and began his clothing business in August 2019. “My uncle in Senegal is very connected, so I shared my idea with him and he said he would be in contact with some local tailors,” Gackou said. He sends clothing designs to a local tailor there through WhatsApp, who makes the garments and sends them here. “I begin with drawings, and once I have something tangible, I will contact my manufacturer in Senegal and tell him exactly what I want,” Gackou said. “From there I have all of my clothes shipped
features@temple-news.com
over here in bulk, so the expenses are not as high.” This process helps keep his clothing authentic, Gackou added. Traditionally, the boubou, a large, light-weight robe worn in Senegal, is typically over a tunic and trousers and is made of wax or cotton, according to Custom Qamis, a handmade clothing brand from the United Arab Emirates. Gackou sells his shirts for $36 each. “I want my customers to be diverse and celebrate the Senegalian culture,” Gackou said. “Anyone can wear the clothes I create.” King Souleyman Enterprises’ platform has grown through word of mouth, social media, festivals and fashion shows, Gackou said. Most of his customer base is from Philadelphia, though he has sold to people in other countries and around the East Coast, he said. “I try to tell people about his brand in my personal life, and I try to admire people like him who have specific ideas,” said Jelani Tate, 25, a customer and business engineer trainee at The School District of Philadelphia who lives on Broad Street near Olney Avenue. “I like that he is authentic and doesn’t just dress the part.”
I want my customers to be diverse and celebrate the Senegalian culture. Anyone can wear the clothes I create. Souleyman Gackou
Junior mechanical engineering major
The business is planning a party over the summer to introduce more people to their brand, said Diakha Thaim,
CAMILLE COLEMAN / THE TEMPLE NEWS Souleyman Gackou, a junior engineering major, talks about King Souleyman Enterprises, Gackou’s Senagalese clothing and accessories business, in his home on Feb. 26.
King Souleyman Enterprises’ operations manager. “We want to share this culture with everyone,” Thaim said. At Student Organization for Caribbean Awareness’s “Immigrant Diaries,” a dance, poetry and fashion event hosted in the Student Center on Nov. 16, 2019, Gackou represented King Souleyman Enterprises for the first time and Thaim modeled the clothing. “He saw my potential and how I would talk to prospective customers,” Thaim said. “After that, he asked for me to join his team and help him out more.” While the environment at Temple has helped boost his brand’s platform, it is not easy to balance being a student and a designer, Gackou said. “I had to set a lot of my priorities straight,” he added. “In order for this business to succeed, my grades at Temple have to be there as well.” Gackou often gets asked about being a mechanical engineering student and a
fashion designer, but he thinks his educational background makes it easy for him to ask questions and take criticism. “[Gackou] is a hard worker in school and the business, and he shows that through his customer service,” said Seth Jones, 25, a customer and entrepreneur at Wavvystraw, a reusable materials company, who lives on Lansdowne Avenue. “One time a shirt did not fit me that well, and I didn’t expect him to do anything but he went the extra mile for me to fix it.” Looking forward, Gackou and Thaim want to see their website fully functioning, more brand outreach and more customers on the East Coast. “I hope to see it evolve with time and reach more people who look to wear the authenticity the brand brings,” Gackou said. meredith.haas@temple.edu @haasmeredith
temple-news.com
FEATURES TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
PAGE 13
STUDENT LIFE
Hair braiding emphasizes tradition, expression
Students find ways to create a business and express themselves through braiding. BY FINN MARTEL For The Temple News Three sections of hair, hours of work and traditions that transcend generations. Today, the ancient hairstyle of braiding is still prominent in modern style and cosmetology. Many students on Main Campus run their own hair-braiding businesses. Though their prices and services vary, they use their skills as stylists to express themselves and connect to the tradition. Black Women for Wellness, a Black health and well-being advocacy and research group, defines natural hair as hair not chemically treated. It includes hair that’s colored but is styled naturally in braids, twists and sisterlocks. The tradition of hair-braiding dates back thousands of years, and historically signified clan membership, marital status or age in Africa, Essence reported. “When I was young I wanted my hair to look like Hannah Montana, and it wasn’t until recently that I actually started liking my natural hair, or felt comfortable wearing it out,” said Tynecia Wilson, a senior Spanish major. Wilson has been braiding her and her friends’ hair since 2015, and in 2017, she turned her braiding skills into a business she runs through her Instagram account, @slayybyytayy. Her customers message her through Instagram to request various braiding styles — box braids, twists and knotless — and schedule an appointment with a $10 down payment. “With [Wilson], I always know I’m going to get a reasonable price, and there’s just never any problems,” said Naomi Abrahams, a 2019 communications studies alumna, a frequent customer of Wilson. Wilson now feels her hair and its styles are a form of expression, she said. She credits the growing acceptance of hair textures to the Natural Hair @TheTempleNews
Movement, a movement that encourages Black people to wear their hair free of extensions, wigs or straightening chemicals, BBC reported. “There’s definitely been a change because people have realized this,” Wilson said. “We can’t tell these little girls that straight hair is beautiful and not their natural hair.” Zoey Mallard, a junior journalism major, runs her lifestyle blog TheGirlWithCurlz where she writes about the Natural Hair Movement. Since she transitioned to wearing her hair naturally in high school, the Natural Hair Movement has also made significant progress, Mallard said. “Not many people really know what to do with their hair, but the knowledge that has come up on social media has really just acted as a catalyst to start the movement and it’s just been great to be able to see that come into fruition,” she said. Braids are popular in the movement, as they provide a method of personalization without chemically altering the hair. In a 2016 report from Black Women for Wellness, it was found that issues like skin irritations and respiratory disorders in Black women can be linked to toxic chemicals in hair treatment. Cyonn McFadgion, senior chemistry major, also runs a braiding business through her Instagram account @slayedbycy. Clients can schedule appointments through McFadgion’s booking website for natural styles like box braiding and twists. “I have dermatitis and there’s no treatment for it, but toxic chemicals worsen it,” McFadgion said. “So in the future, I want to use what I know and maybe I could possibly share or make products that don’t do that, or don’t cause you to develop dermatitis.” She feels her education provides a unique twist to her brand as a hairstylist, as her major allows her to understand “how molecules work and how certain chemicals can affect hair,” McFadgion said. But for Wilson, her brand and per-
CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Tynecia Wilson, a senior Spanish major, laughs with her client during their braiding appointment in Vantage on 12th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue on Feb. 19.
CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Tynecia Wilson, a senior Spanish major, braids junior fine arts major Lauren Booth’s hair in Booth’s apartment on 12th Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue on Feb. 19.
sona as a hairstylist contrast with her life as a student, she said. “There’s Tay and then there’s Tynecia,” Wilson said. “Tay is more the person you see on campus, the dancer, the hairstylist. Tynecia is more the student.” After graduating, McFadgion hopes to create hair products and potentially
open a salon. Wilson also plans to continue her business after university. “I definitely want @slayybyytayy to be more known down the line, and help more people,” Wilson said. “It’s always going to be something I do.” samuel.martel@temple.edu
features@temple-news.com
FEATURES PAGE 14
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
LANGUAGES WORD SEARCH FRENCH MANDARIN KOREAN ITALIAN SPANISH LATIN JAPANESE GAELIC
PORTUGUESE ARABIC CZECH HINDI HEBREW MONGOLIAN SWAHILI
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH CROSSWORD
DOWN
ACROSS
1. The physicist and chemist who experimented with radioactivity
2. This woman challenged race segregation by refusing the move from her bus seat for a white person
3. The first woman of color elected to the United States Congress in 1964 5. Author who wrote “Beloved” and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. 6. A famous American singer known for “Bad Romance” and her role in “A Star is Born”
4. A Jewish girl who recounted her struggles during the Holocaust in her diary. 7. The Mexican artist who created art inspired by her own culture 8. The first female investigative journalist 9. The Japanese singer, artist and peace activist 10. This famous female singer is titled as the “Queen of Pop” of the 1980s
features@temple-news.com
temple-news.com
FEATURES PAGE 15
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
LIVE IN PHILLY
JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Marketplace promotes women-owned businesses
On Saturday, the day before International Women’s Day, The Bourse on Fourth Street near Market held the International Women’s Day Market from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and featured more than 20 women-owned businesses selling art, food and beauty products. Performers like Essie Riddle and Sahara Moon sang for hundreds of guests who ate and walked around the market throughout the day. Renee Wadsworth, 30, a color consultant from Roxborough, sold Find Your Motives’ custom cosmetics for women. “I love working with people,” Wadsworth said. “I’m a very creative individual, and I am a problem-solver. It’s a big challenge to be able to perfect something to each individual’s skin tone.” Zen Samad, 32, who lives in West Philadelphia, is the CEO and founder of Fason De Viv, an online marketplace for independent brands selling women’s apparel and other lifestyle products. “As a buyer, I look for dope brands and bring them to our marketplace,” Samad said. “What got me started was picking out cool stuff and I was like, ‘Why not take my hobby and turn it into a business?’” @TheTempleNews
features@temple-news.com
FEATURES PAGE 16
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
STUDENT LIFE
Youtuber’s ‘relatable’ videos discuss college life
A student balances her course I don’t have that sinking feeling in my schedule around making and ed- stomach whenever I upload and contemplate whether I should delete it.” iting videos for her channel. BY LAWRENCE UKENYE Alumni Beat Reporter The first time Nicole Rafiee made a YouTube channel in the fifth grade, she deleted it after being too embarrassed when her classmates found it. “The same thing happened again in freshman year in high school,” said Rafiee, a junior media studies and production major. “Which is kind of ironic because now the whole goal of YouTube is for people to find your channel.” Rafiee runs a lifestyle vlog channel with almost 150,000 subscribers. “It’s weirdly emotional because it’s cool to look back at me in the fifth grade who was too nervous and would delete my channels every few months because I was so embarrassed,” Rafiee said. “Now
In her videos, Rafiee vlogs about young adult lifestyle topics like mental health, veganism on a college student budget and thrift shopping for clothing. Other videos are her driving to an “Anti-Valentine’s day playlist” or bedazzling her retainer and inhaler. She makes it a priority to be relatable, she said. “I definitely want my channel to be very personal, but I never want to put myself in a box of what I can’t do,” Rafiee said. Courtney Trumbore, a freshman media studies and production major, discovered Rafiee’s channel when looking for residence hall room tours on YouTube. She admires how honest Rafiee is in her videos. “I think a lot of people our age can
relate to the quirky sarcasm that she has,” Trumbore said. “Then there’s also a sense of realness behind all the humor.” Rafiee created her channel because she needed a creative outlet while in college, she said. She uploaded her first video in September 2018 after she talked with Hannah Maute, a former Temple student who runs a YouTube channel with more than 300,000 subscribers. “I feel like I was missing a creative aspect of my life,” Rafiee said. “I got to college and realized that completely. I really lacked that.” Rafiee balances her schoolwork with YouTube by building her entire course schedule around her videos, dedicating entire days off from school to film and edit. For her, she loves making and editing videos because it never feels like work, she said. Although it can be challenging at times to balance both classwork and YouTube,
EMELY RAMIERZ Second-year health policy and management student
VOICES
How would oncampus polling places impact students?
features@temple-news.com
Positively, I would say, definitely, just because it would bring more access to those, for example, live far away or don’t have a car.
KAREN SAPP Junior adult organizational development major I mean for one, the convenience. Two, the education of it. If polling places were on campus, I would believe that there would be advertisements, solicitations. It would foster just being better educated about voting.
Rafiee finds support from friends like Jake Ropka, a junior theater major. Ropka has been featured in Rafiee’s videos and recognizes the work that goes into it, he said. “I love her videos and she definitely does a great job at what she’s doing,” Ropka added. “She has an audience and a really interesting sense of humor.” Rafiee wants to keep her content authentic while possibly collaborating with other channels, like bestdressed, Cody Ko and Noel Miller. She has long-term goals for her channel but doesn’t want to put a number on it. “I’m definitely not number hungry, but it’s definitely important for me to set goals and work toward reaching them,” Rafiee said. lawrence.ukenye@temple.edu @lawrencee_u
HANS YIM Senior information science technology major I do not really care, to be honest, because I am an international student, so I don’t have a right to vote. I mean, if I am able to vote for something, it would be great for a student.
EVAN MURPHY Junior marketing major It would be extremely beneficial for students. The more you’re exposed to voting opportunities, the more likely you are to vote.
temple-news.com
INTERSECTION PAGE 17
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
GENDER
How ‘emotional labor’ affects women’s relationships Emotional labor is the behindthe-scenes work women often do to take care of others. BY MAGDALENA BECKER Assistant Intersection Editor
W
atching her friends and her stay-at-home mom provide emotional support to others, Lana Mansour understood how it works, but did not know it had a name — emotional labor. “The idea, I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never heard about emotional labor as a term,” said Mansour, a senior finance major. “My mom is always on her feet and working. It’s literally a job. I mean, she has to take care of people, has to take care of the house, that type of stuff.” Coined by Arlie Hochschild, a sociologist and professor at the University of California at Berkeley in her 1983 book “The Managed Heart.” Emotional labor involves tasks that could be seen as “mental work” causing distress or disturbance, Hochschild said in a 2018 interview with The Atlantic. Suzannah Weiss, a feminist writer with work featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Teen Vogue and more, wrote about how emotional labor relates to women and their relationships with others. “Emotional labor is work that has to do with supporting people emotionally — things like allowing people to confide in you, perhaps taking care of other people, giving people advice, listening to people’s problems,” Weiss said. Mansour frequently witnesses this type of labor at Temple, she said.
@TheTempleNews
“A girl might have three of her friends coming to her, and then she makes their problems her problems,” Mansour added. In short, emotional labor is behindthe-scenes work — actions that tend to go unnoticed but still are expected, according to the New York Times. It also includes keeping track of social calendars, family schedules, people’s birthdays and other seemingly small tasks, said Amanda White, a professional women’s therapist and founder of Therapy for Women in the Philadelphia area. Women complete 2.6 times more unpaid domestic care or emotional work than men do, according to a 2018 study by United Nations Women, a division of the United Nations that works for gender equality and female empowerment. Weiss believes this pattern stems from the way men have been raised and socialized, adding she mostly sees heterosexual couples struggling with issues concerning emotional labor. “I think it’s due to men not learning to manage their emotions or other people’s emotions and so they are relying on women to do so,” Weiss said. “We also do a disservice to men by expecting women to do all the emotional labor because then they never learn to deal with emotions. They don’t get the chance to do that.” Alison Baren, an assistant psychology professor at Temple, said these gender roles could be evolutionary. “If you think about it from a biological standpoint, of cavemen and women, the women were the caregivers,” Baren said. “It could be something in our DNA that opens us [women] up to more emo-
NICOLE HWANG / THE TEMPLE NEWS
tional experiences.” Most children see women as emotional caretakers, Mansour said. “We grew up with that mindset,” Mansour said. “You know, you’re in first grade and you fall down — [women] are the first ones you go to. They take care of you.” Because emotional labor happens more to women, the term is important for women to know and utilize for themselves, White said. “We get power when we have a word for our experience,” White added. “And when we don’t have a word for our experience there isn’t a lot of action we can take because we don’t fully understand what’s happening.”
The term can be especially helpful for people of marginalized groups who end up having to do a disproportionate amount of emotional labor, “especially when it comes to explaining their own oppression to people and teaching people how to be respectful,” Weiss added. With emotional labor, White hopes people can recognize and address their emotional issues as well as share their stories with others. “It’s important for women to know that they don’t have to do free emotional labor for people,” Weiss said. “You don’t owe anyone any of your time.” magdalena.becker@temple.edu @magdalenamercyy
intersection@temple-news.com
INTERSECTION PAGE 18
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
LGBTQ
Trans students discuss Women’s History Month Trans women share what this month means to them and the trans community. BY RAYONNA HOBBS Assistant Intersection Editor As a young trans woman, Rebecca Zalkin feels like an outsider looking in during Women’s History Month. “For most of my life, I’ve been seeing it from the outside through school and media,” said Zalkin, a freshman mathematics major. Historically, trans women, in particular, have been excluded from women’s and feminist spaces and movements, HuffPost reported. The United States designated March as Women’s History Month in 1987. The annual celebration brings awareness to the important work that women have contributed to the world, according to the National Women’s History Alliance. Exactly which women are recognized and commemorated during Women’s History Month is a topic of constant debate, HuffPost reported. There is a lack of intersectionality and representation within the celebration and teachings of Women’s History Month, according to a study from the National Women’s History Museum. It found women’s experiences and stories are not well integrated into history standards in schools. Jordan, a senior computer science major and a trans woman, said trans women don’t receive enough representation in these spaces. Jordan requested to be referred by her first name for this article. “I feel like it’s a hit or miss if said space is going to be trans-friendly or not,” she said. “I think trans women have been excluded because there’s still a lot of people who don’t accept trans people.” Seeking visibility within women’s spaces proves to be a persistent challenge for many trans women. In the beginnings of the second-wave feminist
intersection@temple-news.com
CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Rebecca Zalkin, a freshman mathematics major, sits in her 1940 Residence Hall room on Mar. 8.
movement in the early ‘70s, feminist groups threatened trans women with violence for daring to enter women and lesbian spaces, the Advocate reported. Trans women struggle to be accepted and Zalkin said she felt fortunate enough to find acceptance in Temple’s Feminist Alliance organization. “There are trans women who don’t go into women’s spaces because they feel insecure about attending,” she added. “But this should be fixed because no one should feel insecure in a place where they should feel welcomed.” Zalkin said transfeminine people struggle to fit in and be welcomed anywhere. “Society pushes out trans women until we are proven to be ‘female enough’ to
be invited into these spaces,” Zalkin said. “There’s a difference between being invited and welcomed in gendered spaces.” There is still a need for more inclusion of trans women and their history during Women’s History Month, according to the Human Rights Campaign. “Something that needs to be done is people stop assuming being cis is the default,” Jordan said. Zalkin wants inclusivity to go beyond language and put in work to actively include trans women, she said. To address the issue, activists and allies should ask trans people what support they need and actively promote inclusivity, she said. For both Zalkin and Jordan, Women’s History Month is a time to give
thanks to those who have been at the forefront of the fight for equality. “To me, it’s a month to commemorate those who’ve fought for gender equality and to appreciate the progress that’s been made,” Jordan said. Zalkin feels proud to say, “Yes, I am a woman,” and finds pride in women who are fighting against the patriarchy, she said. “I feel pride for being a part of this intergenerational struggle for rights, for the amazing things we can do and what women have done, for the fact that I am a woman and get to be seen as such,” Zalkin added. rayonna.hobbs@temple.edu
temple-news.com
INTERSECTION PAGE 19
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
POLICY
Student says sex-work laws affect friends, coworkers
A set of laws were designed to protect people, but instead, they cause harm to sex workers. BY CATHERINE O’CONNELL & NICO CISNEROS The Temple News Almost three years ago, a Temple University student decided to find a better job to help her cover the cost of living. “I was working in retail and was barely making my rent payments,” she said. The student requested to remain anonymous for this article. She thought about taking a barback job, but after going to an audition at a strip club, she decided to work as a stripper. Some college students use sex work, which can include stripping, as a way to fund the expenses that come along with college life, including tuition, textbooks, and housing, according to the News Record, University of Cincinnati’s student newspaper. Sex work has become an umbrella term for an array of professions, including cam girling, acting in porn, being a dominatrix, being a prostitute and being a stripper, according to society and culture website Hopes & Fears. Since the introduction of the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act in 2018, known as FOSTA-SESTA, life has become more difficult for sex workers. The FOSTA-SESTA is a set of laws attempting to limit online sex trafficking and further criminalize online prostituADVERTISEMENT
@TheTempleNews
tion, according to the bill. Anyone using the internet as a means of prostitution or sex trafficking can face 10 years in prison. Although the student does not use online platforms to promote her work, she said her coworkers have been affected. One of her friends paid her rent through money she received from clients through services she offered online. In an instant, she said, her friend lost that income. These laws are also a potential safety hazard, according to a 2019 joint study at Baylor University and Claremont Graduate University. Online services, like Craigslist’s “erotic services” section, reduced the female homicide rate by at least 10 percent, the study estimated. It concluded that the passage of FOSTA-SESTA could result in “adverse safety consequences,” because the act led to the shutdown of sites sex workers had used to screen clients. The student saw this impact firsthand when her coworker expressed her concern after the shutdown of Backpage. com, a website that posted online personal ads, Slate reported. “Now [my friend] isn’t able to screen people, and she was just worried about having to possibly meet people that she wasn’t able to like background checks she wasn’t able to get their IDs anymore, and having the possibility of having much more dangerous encounters,” she said. Clients are the biggest safety concern for the student, particularly because of society’s attitudes toward sex workers, she said.
JACKIE ROSENZWEIG / THE TEMPLE NEWS
“The people who mistreat us at the club would never treat a person or a woman that they met at a bar this way but because we’re strippers, they think that that can just say whatever they want or touch us anywhere they want,” she said. Misconceptions about sex workers fuel laws like FOSTA-SESTA, the student said. She feels the law was guided by the belief that sex workers, like victims of human trafficking, are forced into their profession. “Unfortunately it was designed to tackle human sex trafficking, which is horrible, but it’s different than voluntary sex work,” she said. There has been legislative pushback to FOSTA-SESTA. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) recently sponsored the
SAFE SEX Workers Study Act alongside Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon). “For far too long, [FOSTA-SESTA] has demonized and harmed sex workers,” Lee said in a press release in December 2019. “Instead of preventing sex trafficking, [FOSTA-SESTA] made it harder for sex workers to access critical health and safety resources.” Still, the student feels an important voice is missing from the legislative conversation: the sex workers themselves. “It was a law made by people who are not sex workers themselves, which is why it doesn’t help us at all,” she said. intersection@temple.edu @TheTempleNews
intersection@temple-news.com
SPORTS PAGE 20
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Owls await potential invitational tournament bid It is unlikely the Owls will receive an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament after losing 15 games. BY ADAM SLOATE Women’s Basketball Co-Beat Reporter Despite a mid-season five-game win streak, Temple University women’s basketball entered a slump to end the season, risking a post-season run. Still, the team hopes to appear in a tournament, which will be announced on March 16. The Owls (16-15, 7-9 The AAC) lost 94-61 to Connecticut (28-3, 16-0 The AAC) on March 7. If Temple had beaten the Huskies and gone on to win The American Athletic Conference Tournament, it would have received an automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Now, the team is unlikely to receive a bid due to its average record. The Owls are more likely to receive an invitation to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, associate head coach Way Veney said. The NIT typically invites teams that rank in the top 150 in Ratings Percentage Index and have a winning percentage of .500 or better. Temple satisfies both requirements by virtue of its 16-15 record and 116th-overall ranking in RPI. The NIT will announce its selections on March 16, after the NCAA has announced which teams have made the NCAA Tournament. “We talked about that being our goal in the beginning of the season,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “I feel like we let some games slip away that we definitely could have been sitting here knowing that we’re going to the postseason.” Defensive struggles and poor shooting held Temple back in the loss to the Huskies, as the Owls allowed 53.8 percent on three-point field goal attempts. Temple was plagued by the same issues in similar blowout losses to Florida Gulf Coast University in December and South Florida in February. In all three
sports@temple-news.com
NICHOLAS DAVIS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Redshirt-sophomore guard Ashley Jones prepares to shoot during the Owls’ 64-68 loss against Tulsa at McGonigle Hall on Feb. 29.
losses, Temple allowed a three-point shot rate above 40 percent, well above each team’s average three-point percentage. Temple struggled to score — relative to their season average of 68.5 — in all three of those contests. Temple scored 51 against South Florida, one of the lowest-scoring performances of the season. The Owls also scored on a lower percentage of three-point shots in those three games, shooting a combined 20.9 percent from three-point range. Temple lost its last four regular-season games, which lowered its standings in The American, leading to the second-round matchup with the Huskies. “Just like coach said, we’re at the end of the season, hoping we can have a
postseason, and if we can’t we’re just going to come back better and work harder for next year,” said junior forward and team captain Mia Davis. Davis led the team with 18.8 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game this season. Davis also shot 47.2 percent from the field despite the Owls’ struggle to score in their final games. Davis is among 10 players who will return for the 2020-21 season. Six of these players saw more than 400 minutes this season. Davis started all 30 games she played and recorded more than 1000 total minutes to lead the team. The 2020-21 season will be her last. Redshirt-sophomore guard Ashley Jones and sophomore guard Maris-
sa Mackins both played more than 890 minutes. Freshman guard Asonah Alexander played 786 minutes and started 13 games. Jones was selected The American’s Newcomer of the Year and made Second Team All-Conference. Alexander was named to the All-Freshman team. With Connecticut leaving The American after this season, Cardoza believes the conference will be “wide open” next season. “If we do what we’re supposed to do, we get in the gym and we work hard, maybe we could be the new UConn of The American,” Cardoza added. adam.sloate@temple.edu @MrAdster99
Josh Grieb contributed reporting. temple-news.com
SPORTS PAGE 21
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Owls enter AAC Tournament amid losing streak Temple will have to win four games in four days against higher-ranked opponents. BY ALEX McGINLEY Assistant Sports Editor
Temple University men’s basketball will enter The American Athletic Conference Tournament with its longest losing streak of the season. Temple (14-17, 6-12 The AAC), the 10th seed in the tournament, will play 7th seeded Southern Methodist (19-11, 9-9 The AAC) in the first round of the tournament on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The Owls will enter the tournament with five consecutive losses to East Carolina, Wichita State, South Florida, Tulsa and Cincinnati. The Owls’ last win came on Feb. 20 against Connecticut. During the five-game losing streak, the Owls shot 36.46 percent from the field and 31.78 percent from the threepoint line. The Owls have only shot above their season-average percent from the field and the three-point line in two of its losses. The Owls also struggled to convert from the free-throw line during their losing streak. They made 65.93 percent of their free throws during the losing streak. In three of those games, the Owls made below 70 percent of their free throws. In the Owls’ losses against East Carolina and Wichita State, their number of missed free throws was greater than the number of points they lost by. Coach Aaron McKie said after the Tulsa game his team’s recent offensive struggles affected how it plays defensively. In their 61-51 loss to Tulsa on March 4, the Owls shot 29.8 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from beyond the arc. “A lot of that comes from the offensive side of the floor,” McKie said on March 4. “We shouldn’t think like that. We gotta reverse our thought process. When the ball is not going into the hole for us on the offensive side, we lose our
@TheTempleNews @TheTempleNews
JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Senior guard Quinton Rose stands on the court during the Owls’ 51-61 loss against Tulsa at the Liacouras Center on March 4.
focus on the defensive side.” The Owls will face the Mustangs, which slipped to seventh in the conference after losing five of their last six games and three in a row to end the season. Temple and SMU split the season series. The two teams first met on Jan. 18 in Dallas with SMU earning a 68-52 win. The Owls avenged the loss with a 97-90 overtime win against the Mustangs on Feb. 8 at the Liacouras Center. The Mustangs lead the conference in scoring with 72.9 points per game. The Mustangs have four players who average 11 points or more. Junior guard Tyson Jolly leads the Mustangs with 14.5 points per game. He is third on the team with 6.2 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Kendric Davis is
second on the team in points, averaging 14.2 per game. He also leads the conference with 6.7 assists per game. Junior forward Isiaha Mike and sophomore forward Feron Hunt scored 14.0 and 11.0 points per game, respectively. They also lead the Mustangs with more than six rebounds per game. “They’re a really good offensive team, one of the better offensive teams in the country,” McKie said on Feb. 8. “They shoot the ball well. They got a really, really good point guard who sets the table for those guys and he’s very cerebral in figuring out different ways to get those shooters the ball.” If Temple beats SMU, it will advance to play 2nd-seeded Houston (238, 13-5 The AAC) in the second round at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The Cougars are
fourth in the conference in scoring with 72.3 points per game. The Cougars have allowed 62.1 points per game, which is first in the conference. Temple lost 78-74 to Houston on Jan. 7 at the Liacouras Center in the teams’ only meeting this season. Redshirt-freshman guard Caleb Mills leads the Cougars in scoring with 13.3 points per game. Mills scored 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field against the Owls. The Cougars’ next highest scorers are sophomore guards Quentin Grimes and Nate Hinton, who both average more than 10 points per game. TOURNAMENT | CONTINUED ON PAGE 23
sports@temple-news.com
ADVERTISEMENT
SPORTS PAGE 23
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
THE OWLS’ SHOOTING STATS IN LAST FIVE GAMES
36.46%
31.78%
65.93%
FIELD GOALS
3-POINTERS
FREE THROWS Source: Temple Athletics
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 TOURNAMENT Hinton is fourth in the conference in rebounds with 8.7 per game. Temple’s only chance to make the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 FENCING To keep her Italian ranking and attend future international competitions, Calderaro needed to attend this specific competition. “It’s not always easy to make these types of decisions,” Calderaro said. “But thanks to the support and help from my coaches, family and teammates, I have been able to do well so far.” Calderaro competed with Club Scherma Roma before joining Temple’s team. She finished in sixth place at the 2019 Junior Italian Championship Finals, third at the 2019 Italian Region@TheTempleNews
NCAA Tournament is to win four games in the four days of the conference tournament. Despite the team’s recent struggles, McKie is confident Temple can be successful in the conference tournament.
“That’s the beauty of being able to play in your conference championship because you get another opportunity,” McKie said. “All of the games have been close and teams have been beating up on one another, so we get another op-
portunity. You wanna be playing your best basketball, which we are not at this particular point, but you can build some momentum.”
al and second at the 2018 Cadet Italian Championship Finals. “I was impressed when I saw her fence for the first time, and after we had several conversations, felt she would be a good fit for us,” Franke said. “Her international experience and results were consistently improving, and she’s very dedicated.” Calderaro learned to fence because of her father, Michele, who was a modern pentathlete, practicing five different sports: fencing, swimming, horseback riding, shooting and running. Her father signed her up for fencing lessons with his pentathlete friends, she said. Stefano Giommoni, Calderaro’s coach in Italy, taught her the “secret to
growth” is “la voglia,” which means “the want,” she said. “La voglia” is part of the reason she decided to come to an American university, so she could go to school and fence, she added. “Fencing in Italy is more of an individual sport,” Calderaro said. “It is not as much of a team sport like at American universities, even though all the people that I have met at Club Scherma Roma are very close friends of mine.” Volunteer assistant coach Melissa Forsythe works primarily with the team’s epees. “[Calderaro] came in as a good fencer but has really improved in the time that she’s been here,” Forsythe said. “She’s
had to adjust to a new coach, which is tough when you’ve only had one coach your whole fencing career, like she has, but it’s been an adjustment she’s dealt with well.” “La voglia” is still Calderaro’s secret to growing as an athlete. “I give my best at everything, at practice, in school and in competitions,” Calderaro said. “I never do anything without putting 100-percent effort into it. With all the effort I put into practicing and getting ready for a competition, I’m quite confident in my abilities.”
alex.mcginley@temple.edu @mcginley_alex
donovan.hugel@temple.edu @donohugel
sports@temple-news.com
SPORTS
PAGE 24
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
FENCING
THE WANT
An epee has fenced in three European nations in the last three months. BY DONOVAN HUGEL For The Temple News
F
reshman epee Margherita Calderaro has brought a “wealth of experience” in her first season with Temple University fencing, coach Nikki Franke said. When being recruited during her senior year of high school, Fran-
ke told Calderaro she could attend international competitions while also competing with the Owls. No other Temple fencer has competed internationally during the NCAA fencing season. On Nov. 16, 2019, while the Owls were competing at the Penn Elite Meet, Calderaro was competing at an under-20 World Cup event in Italy. FENCING | CONTINUED ON PAGE 23
JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Freshman epee Margherita Calderaro practices with junior epee Marielle Luke at the TU Pavilion on Feb. 27.
sports@temple-news.com
temple-news.com