Vol. 98 Iss. 6

THE TEMPLE NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019

PAGE 1

BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT Students feel overlooked after the university gave atheletes free access to a meditation app.

WHAT’S INSIDE NEWS, PAGE 6 Crime on and around Main Campus fell three percent since 2017.

SPORTS, PAGE 22 Temple’s paintball team hopes to win a title with a key player.

VOL 98 // ISSUE 6 OCT. 1, 2019

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

NEWS PAGE 2

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

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

Kelly Brennan Editor in Chief Pavlína Černá Managing Editor Francesca Furey Chief Copy Editor Colin Evans News Editor Hal Conte Assistant News Editor Gabrielle Houck Assistant News Editor Tyler Perez Opinion Editor Madison Karas Features Editor Bibiana Correa Assistant Features Editor Ayooluwa Ariyo Assistant Features Editor Jay Neemeyer Sports Editor Dante Collinelli Assistant Sports Editor Alex McGinley Assistant Sports Editor Alesia Bani Intersection Co-Editor Gionna Kinchen Intersection Co-Editor

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

Unsigned editorial content represents the opinion of The Temple News.

CAMPUS

Temple builds on addiction services The university will likely not implement on-campus housing for students with substance use disorder.

BY ISSALINA SAGAD For The Temple News

Since Temple’s Opioid Task Force delivered its recommendations to President Richard Englert last Adjacent commentary is reflective year, the university has hired an alcoof their authors, not The Temple hol and drug prevention coordinator News. and is not implementing on-campus recovery housing at this time.

Visit us online at Michael Moscarelli Dir. of Engagement Across the state, 4,413 people temple-news.com.

Colleen Claggett Photography Editor died last year due to opioid use, 1,118 Send submissions to Jeremy Elvas Asst. Photography Editor of them from Philadelphia, accordletters@temple-news.com.

Madison Seitchik Co-Multimedia Editor ing to the Pennsylvania Department The Temple News is located at: Jared Giovan Co-Multimedia Editor Student Center, Room 243 1755 N. 13th St. of Health.

Ingrid Slater Design Editor Philadelphia, PA 19122 The task force, established in Nicole Hwang Designer May 2018, was designed to collect data and assess addiction among Phuong Tran Advertising Manager Temple students. It made its final Kelsey McGill Advertising Manager Lubin Park Business Manager recommendations on Dec. 20, 2018.

ON THE COVER Creating on-campus recovery COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS housing, which was proposed by the task force, is likely not going to be implemented, said task force members Jerry Stahler, a professor of geography and urban studies, and Dean of Students Stephanie Ives.

CORRECTIONS Pennsylvania State University, Rutgers University and Drexel Accuracy is our business, so when a mistake is made, we’ll correct it as soon as possible.

University offer recovery housing Anyone with inquiries about content in this newspaper can contact Editor in Chief Kelly for students, and in 2017, Temple’s Brennan at editor@temple-news.com or 215-204-6736.

Parliament passed a resolution to explore implementing recovery housing on campus.

Ives said the community asking for recovery housing is “incredibly small.”

But Stahler said the initiative is “much more complicated.”

“Does it make sense?” Stahler asked. “Would it be better to have

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

a floor or separate house for those in recovery? Do the students want others to know that they are recovering?”

The university has also promoted its Collegiate Recovery Program, a student-led space those in recovery, Ives said. It has also promoted the use of Suboxone, a medication that blocks opioid craving, which Student Health Services can prescribe.

Per the task force’s recommendations, Vicky Nucci is now Temple’s alcohol and drug prevention coordinator in the Wellness Resource Center. She declined to comment.

“You need someone who can really understand the nature of the disease, and to be in between the student’s family and the university and will advocate for the student,” Stahler added. “Maybe through working out residential treatment and helping them finish the semester remotely, or helping the student through the process of returning to school.”

“This disease of addiction is silent,” he added. “It’s so important that we support students in recovery, provide a safe and helpful environment and help them succeed.”

The university is also focusing on other forms of substance abuse, like alcoholism, Ives said.

“There are students living with substance use disorder connected with alcohol, or even marijuana, other pills or other substances,” Ives said. “We wanted to make sure that we took a very broad and comprehensive look at substance use disorder as a whole and recovery effort broadly.” issalina.sagad@temple.edu

temple-news.com

NEWS PAGE 3

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

DEVELOPMENT

Community org won’t oppose project on Broad

Several residents disagree with 32nd Democratic Ward RCO’s decision to not resist the project.

BY COLIN EVANS News Editor The 32nd Democratic Ward Registered Community Organization will not oppose the development of a six-story, mixed-use building at the former site of the Baker Funeral Home on Broad Street near Norris Street, said Judith Robinson, the RCO’s chairperson.

Robinson will not object to the proposed 40-unit building, whose fate will be decided by the city’s zoning board on Wednesday, because Michael Alhadad, its developer, promised to address anticipated issues with trash and parking at an RCO meeting last month, she said.

But several residents who live near the proposed development and attended the RCO meeting told The Temple News that they did not communicate their decision to Robinson and thought that the RCO would oppose the project.

“We didn’t hear anything about this,” said Cassandra Knight, 56, who lives near the intersection of Carlisle and Norris streets and opposes the project.

“I’m opposed to it,” said Guadalupe Patilla, 74, who also live who lives near the intersection of Carlisle and Norris streets and attended the meeting. “I don’t want to see any more construction around here.”

In addition to the 40 multi-family units, the building, which would stretch from Broad to Carlisle streets, would also house a business on its first floor, though the tenant has yet to be chosen, Alhadad said at the Sept. 16 meeting.

Alhadad could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspection initially issued two refusals for the project which the developer will appeal on Wednesday, said Adam Laver, a zoning lawyer who represents Alhadad’s project, at the September meeting. @TheTempleNews

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Baker Funeral Home on Broad Street near Norris could be turned into a six-story apartment building if it is approved by the city’s zoning board.

The city’s first refusal centers around the Temple area’s SP-INS zoning designation, which restricts developers from building single-use apartments, Laver said, while the second enforces a limit on the amount of land a building is allowed to occupy within its property.

Though an RCO has no legal power to stop a project from happening, their concerns are taken into account by the zoning board at hearings, he added.

Though she is aware that some residents oppose the project, Robinson said, she has to weigh their concerns with what she can negotiate with the developer. The alternative would be 40 units of housing coming to the community while the residents have none of their demands met, she added.

“That’s why I’m not saying ‘support’ at all,” Robinson said. “Just say ‘unop-

posed,’ and then try to get the developer to take care of whatever the problems are.”

“Just to say ‘no’ out of the clear blue sky makes no sense,” Robinson added.

On top of the 11 reserved parking spaces planned for the building, Alhadad promised to pay for overflow parking for his residents elsewhere so that they did not take up parking spots on Broad and Carlisle streets, Robinson said.

But Patilla thinks that Alhadad’s tenants will still park outside of the building, Patilla said.

“If I live in that apartment building, and if the lot is two blocks away, you think I’m going to walk from that lot all the way to Broad and Norris in the middle of the night?” Patilla said.

Janet King, 67, who lives near the intersection of 15th and Diamond

streets, said she didn’t know that Robinson wouldn’t oppose the project but has accepted the fact that the developer is going to build it anyway.

King is not opposed to more residential housing but is concerned about how it will affect parking in the area because the developer said the building is not geared toward students.

“Under the guise that it’s not going to be student housing, gee, how are those people going to park?” King said.

If people urging her to oppose the project, Robinson will do it, she said.

“I’m trying to be as discerning as possible, hearing people, hearing every side, and then coming up with a solution,” she said. colin.evans@temple.edu @colinpaulevans

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

NEWS PAGE 4

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

ALUMNI

Renowned Herald reporter recounts college years Julie Brown, who investigated Jeffrey Epstein, will be honored at this year’s Lew Klein Awards.

BY COLIN EVANS News Editor Before she came to Temple, Julie Brown worked some odd jobs, like a stint in a lampshade factory, to support herself as a teenager.

But even after Brown, a 1987 journalism alumna, graduated magna cum laude from what was then the School of Media and Communication and worked full-time as a journalist, she still had to waitress on-and-off for eight years to make ends meet, she said.

“Back then, it was known that you would never make money as a newspaper reporter,” Brown said. “Actors with their craft, they work all these odd-jobs until they get discovered. And that’s kind of what happened to me.”

No longer waitressing, Brown, an investigative reporter with the Miami Herald, will be returning to Temple on Friday to be inducted into the Klein School of Media and Communications’ Alumni Hall of Fame alongside five others at the annual Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Awards.

Brown is best known for her investigative series “Perversion of Justice,” which examined a sweetheart plea deal that former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta gave to billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2008.

Epstein was required to register as a sex offender and pay restitution to approximately 36 victims as part of the plea deal, Brown’s story found, yet the Herald identified approximately 80 women who said they were sexually abused by Epstein from 2001 to 2006.

In July, federal prosecutors arrested Epstein for orchestrating a “vast network of underage victims” involving girls as young as 14, the New York Times reported. Epstein later died by suicide in prison.

Brown received a George Polk News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

EMILY MICHOT / COURTESY Julie Brown, a 1987 journalism alumna, appears on TV to discuss her investigation into the late-billionaire and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Award in Justice Reporting alongside visual journalist Emily Michot for the series, according to the Miami Herald.

One prosecutor said at a news conference announcing the arrest that their case was “assisted by some excellent investigative journalism.”

When David Boardman, Klein College’s dean, called Brown to tell her that she would receive the alumni award, she broke into tears, she said.

“I’m kind of in shock,” Brown said.

“I’m in shock about everything. I just never thought it would happen.”

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to honor Julie. Her courageous reporting is a perfect manifestation of Temple’s motto: Perseverance matters,” Boardman wrote in an email to The Temple News.

Brown, raised by a single mother, left home at 16. Four years later, she received a scholarship to pay for her full tuition at Temple but continued to waitress throughout college to pay her rent, she said.

At Temple, Brown’s journalism professors continuously encouraged her to get out into the field and write, she said, which is the best advice she can give to journalism students today.

“In reality, you learn the most about journalism by going out and reporting and learning on your own, even if its covering the local sports game,” Brown said.

Brown was able to work her way up to a reporting job at the Philadelphia Daily News in 1996, a product of her willingness to write about a wide range of topics, she said.

“I worked really hard to make sure I could do almost anything that the editors asked me to do,” Brown said.

Barbara Laker, an investigative reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer, worked at the Philadelphia Daily News, starting 1993. She worked alongside Brown, who she said is one of the “best reporters in the business.”

“I just remember whenever she was put on a story, because we were compet-

ing with the Inquirer, other reporters in the city would get really nervous because they knew she was a pro and that she wouldn’t let up,” Laker added.

While at the Daily News, Brown wrote an investigative series on a scourge of Hepatitis C infections among Philadelphia firefighters, Laker said, which led to mandatory testing for public safety workers nationwide.

“She would see stories that no one else would see, she would have the making in her to know how to get that story,” Laker said.

More than three decades after graduating, Brown said she’s grateful for how much Temple believed in her.

“If it wasn’t for Temple, I wouldn’t be here,” Brown said. “Hey, maybe, if it wasn’t for Temple, Jeffrey Epstein would still be flying his plane around with sex trafficking victims. Who knows?” colin.evans@temple.edu @colinpaulevans

temple-news.com

NEWS PAGE 5

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

CAMPUS

Ethics helpline a ‘clearinghouse’ for dozens of tips The university created the helpline in May following the business school’s rankings scandal.

BY COLIN EVANS News Editor Temple’s ethics helpline has received 31 tips since its inception in May, said Alejandro Diaz, the university’s chief compliance officer.

The university established the Ethics and Compliance Office in the wake of the Fox School of Business rankings scandal last year, which erupted after the university announced that the school had submitted falsified rankings data for several of its programs, triggering investigations from the U.S. Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

Anyone at Temple can contact the 24/7 helpline, which is managed by NAVEX Global, an ethics and compliance technology company, Diaz said.

Tipsters have a confidential, two-way conversation with Diaz, and the office will determine whether it falls under their jurisdiction or that of another office, he said.

The five-person office has not received complaints of employee-to-employee retaliation or conflicts of interest, which have to be reported to Temple’s Board of Trustees, Diaz said. Instead, they have mainly dealt with complaints that are investigated by other departments, like human resources or the university counsel, Diaz said.

“We let the experts already at the university on the subject matter investigate this stuff,” Diaz said. “We use them as sort of our arms and legs for investigating, and that makes sense because we’re sort of a small group here.”

The helpline received 24 calls be-

@TheTempleNews

COLLEEN CLAGGETT/ THE TEMPLE NEWS Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer Alejandro Diaz explains the university’s ethics helpline in his office in Carnell Hall on Sept. 26.

tween May and August, and seven in September, Diaz wrote in an email to The Temple News.

Jon Smollen, the executive director of the Beasley School of Law’s Center for Compliance and Ethics, an education and research center, said that having a visible, well-defined way of having ethical issues raised, like a helpline, is “healthy” and “productive” for any organization.

“It gives the employees a sense of there being clarity of where you go at a central level, and there’s also the clarity that an organization is saying it’s important that those questions get asked, that

the issues get raised,” said Smollen, who previously worked as a chief compliance officer for a pharmaceutical company.

It is also common to have tipsters raise issues through ethics helpline that are outside the purview of a compliance department, Smollen said.

“You’d almost be a clearinghouse where [the issues] would come in, they would get logged, and they would get sent out to a particular part of the organization to look at the particular issue where they would have the expertise and knowledge of it,” he added.

In an October 2018 release, Temple

referenced Diaz’s appointment to chief compliance officer as part of a series of measures designed to prevent a situation, like the rankings scandal, from happening again.

“I do think the lifeblood of ethics and compliance is people willing to speak up,” Diaz said. “Think about it this way: If misconduct is observed and not reported, that’s a missed opportunity for us to learn. Because correcting a mistake, that’s how you learn.” colin.evans@temple.edu @colinpaulevans

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

NEWS PAGE 6

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

CRIME

Main Campus crime down since 2017, report says Reports of relationship violence there’s been promotion involved with on and off campus increased, the Wellness Resource Center, Student Activities, Temple Student Governaccording to the report.

BY COLIN EVANS News Editor Crime reports on Temple’s Main Campus decreased by 3.2 percent from 2017 to 2018, with the largest decrease being in alcohol, drugs and weapons-related crimes from 569 to 466, according to the university’s annual security and fire safety report.

The report, released on Sept. 26, tracks reports to the Temple Police of various crimes and fires occurring on or near Temple’s campus each year as required by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, a federal law that requires institutions of higher education to disclose such information.

Charlie Leone, director of campus safety services, attributes the decrease in crime reports since 2017 in part to his department’s new crime mapping system, which allows supervisors to view day-to-day and week-to-week trends in the area, he said.

In the summer of 2018, Leone also appointed Melanie Haworth, a TUPD detective, to analyze trends in crime with the new mapping software.

“We’ve done a lot of effort from 2017 to 2018 to be very mindful, being vigilant in how we patrol, to see if we see any type of activity like that to respond to quickly,” Leone said. “I think that’s been very helpful to us in terms of seeing reductions in that area.”

Though reports of all crimes are up just two percent since 2013, reports of relationship violence, which include domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, quadrupled during that time frame, according to the report.

This is likely due to the increased availability of resources on-campus to report relationship violence, Leone said.

“My thoughts are that we opened up a lot of the avenues,” Leone added.

“In the past few years around campus, News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

ment, Title IX, just all pulling together to get the message out.”

“While it’s difficult to be certain, we do know that increased education, outreach and awareness efforts have encouraged reporting,” wrote Andrea Seiss, director of Temple’s Title IX office, in an email to The Temple News.

“The awareness efforts of Temple Student Government and other student groups, coupled with actions by the university to make reporting easier, should show students we want to hear from them and will take action on their reports in appropriate ways,” Seiss wrote.

Reports of Clery crimes, which include murder, rape and robbery, among others, decreased by 34, or 32.7 percent, in 2018, after a five-year high in 2017.

Leone attributes the 2017 spike in Clery crime reports to a string of burglaries committed by the same group of people, in addition to multiple incidents of forced public fondling. There were 29 burglaries reported in 2017, versus 13 in 2018, and 20 reports of fondling in 2017, compared to 17 in 2018.

A 29-percent decrease in disciplinary actions and referrals for alcohol-related crimes, which dropped from 462 in 2017 to 328 in 2018, comprised much of the decrease in alcohol, drugs and weapons-related crimes reported in that time frame.

“There’s always going to be an ebb and flow to the number of reports of alcohol misuse each year,” Leone said.

“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly,” he added. “I know part of it has to do with us and how much enforcement is being done.”

Driven by increases in reports of theft, disorderly conduct and drunkenness, non-Clery crimes, which also include harassment and vandalism, increased by 81, or 12.2 percent, from 2017-18. colin.evans@temple.edu @colinpaulevans

Crime Reports Breakdown, 2018 Relationship Violence

Hate Crimes

Clery Crimes

Non-Clery Crimes Alcohol, Drugs, Weapons

Reported Relationship Violence Since 2013 Offenses include domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.

SOURCE: 2019 Temple University Annual Security & Annual Fire Safety Report | INGRID SLATER / THE TEMPLE NEWS

temple-news.com

OPINION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

PAGE 7 EDITORIAL

Headspace for all students On Sept. 24, Temple University announced a partnership with Headspace, a healthcare app specializing in meditation. The subscription-based app, which costs $9.99 per year for students, was made available to more than 500 Temple student-athletes for free.

Ray Betzner, associate vice president of strategic marketing and communications, said student-athletes are essentially a focus group, which could result in a free university-wide subscription if the app proves helpful.

The Editorial Board recognizes the need for mental health care for student-athletes — they experience immense pressure in the

classroom and on the field. However, we do not agree with giving them exclusive access, while neglecting other students.

Mental health diagnoses among college students rose from 22 to 36 percent in the last 10 years, according to the National Institute of Health, and aren’t unique to student-athletes. Students with various commitments and extracurricular activities could benefit from free access to Headspace.

We suggest Temple take a first-come-first-serve approach instead, so a diverse group of students could test the free service, ensuring that the it reaches the widest variety of students.

EDITORIAL

Student newsroom shines On Friday, Andrew Howard, a managing editor of The State Press, Arizona State University’s independent student newspaper, reported that Kurt Volker, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, had resigned.

Volker, who is also the executive director of the McCain Institute, a think tank that ASU owns, had been named in a whistleblower complaint that has since sparked an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s alleged request to Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son.

The State Press’ scoop eventually landed on the front page of media outlets across the world.

Howard was just doing his job,

@TheTempleNews

which was to cover the university, he told the New York Times.

“We decided to take an approach to the story that a national outlet might not, and reach out to the university,” Howard added.

“I’m not sure we ever expected to get the scoop that we did.”

The Editorial Board commends Howard and the staff at The State Press for their acute news sense and ability to report stories of national importance.

We hope that The State Press’ accomplishment inspires journalism students to write and report with confidence and ambition.

Student journalists are professional journalists and deserve to be recognized as such.

TECHNOLOGY

Embrace new tech in film “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: By experimenting with new technologies, up-and-coming filmmakers can Endgame” were the first two films in history to be shot exclusively on Imax digital camertell new stories in innovative ways.

O

ne of the movies I watched constantly as a child was “Toy Story.” I was amazed by the engaging narrative and the dynamic characters, but I had no clue how inventive the film was for its time.

JUSTIN BONNIGER FOR THE TEMPLE In fact, “Toy StoNEWS ry,” Pixar’s first feature film, was the first feature-length movie that used only computer-animation, Time magazine reported. Every time I watched that movie, I witnessed a shift in the way filmmakers approached new technology, something that continues today.

Every year, artists experiment with new technologies in incredible ways, and it’s paying off, giving consumers visually interesting films that challenge the status quo of cinema.

It’s a signal for up-and-coming filmmakers to embrace new technology in how they tell stories and produce films in order to create something unique and engaging.

Innovation in digital filmmaking has led to a number of critically acclaimed films that could not have been created using traditional film, or celluloid.

Of the 20 most commercially successful films of this year so far, only two were made using traditional film, signaling a seachange toward digital filmmaking, according to Box Office Mojo. One of those two films was “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” directed by Quentin Tarantino, who once said in 2014 that digital film was the “death of cinema,” IndieWire reported.

Warren Bass, a film and media arts professor and an independent filmmaker, disagrees with Tarantino.

“There’s still some things where film has its unique look. But for telling stories, and even animation, there’s just huge advantages to the digital image,” Warren said.

as, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

And this paid off, as “Avengers: Endgame” became the highest-grossing film of all time this July, Variety reported.

Last year’s “Unsane,” directed by Steven Soderbergh, was shot entirely on an iPhone, which gave moviegoers an exciting experience that combined horror with aggressive cinematography, the New Yorker reported.

“The whole purpose behind filmmaking is to tell stories,”said Daniel Hyon, a senior film and media studies major. “If you’re having new technology and breakthroughs that allow you to do better, then there’s borderline no reason for you to deny that.”

It’s clear moviegoers appreciate films that take risks by using new technologies in creative ways. Before “Avengers: Endgame” the highest-grossing film of all time was “Avatar,” directed by James Cameron. It used new technology, like a fusion 3D camera system, to create the visually stunning, Oscar-winning film, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The portability and ease of digital cameras make filmmaking more accessible to the public, allowing more individuals, even those without formal training, to have a voice.

“You’re getting more and more people who are making content just because they like to,” said Claire Sackman, a sophomore film and media arts major. “They have the access to do it, so why not just do it?”

At its best, films are about inclusivity.

Last year’s “Into the Spider-Verse” told the story of an Afro-Latino Spider-Man, and the directors used an idiosyncratic animation style to separate the film from any other Spider-Man movie before it.

Innovation in film allows filmmakers to experiment in their art while giving audiences more exciting, status-quo-shattering movies to watch.

Most importantly, it helps evolve the art form, and that’s the best thing we can do for film. justin.bonniger@temple.edu

letters@temple-news.com

OPINION PAGE 8

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

MENTAL HEALTH

Challenge mental illness stigma in clinical fields Mental health practitioners can break stigma in their field by disclosing their own struggles.

As a graduate student majoring in mental health counseling, I’ve studied and done research in various areas, from affective disorders to personality disorders, with mental illness MARINA MILIDOU FOR THE TEMPLE becoming the focus NEWS of my education.

What I have observed, however, is that we mostly focus on the mental well-being of patients exclusively, often avoiding conversations about the prevalence of depression and anxiety affecting mental health care providers.

Nearly 70 percent of clinical psychologists experience mild to moderate depression, with 42.1 percent experiencing anxiety, according to a 2018 study by the University College London.

Mental health practitioners deal with physically and emotionally exhausting work days, with about half of psychiatrists experiencing burnout, according to a 2016 study at Antioch University.

This burnout can exacerbate existing mental health issues, especially if professionals experiencing mental illness do not seek help.

We need to advocate for heightened awareness for mental health practitioners struggling with mental illness, and this begins with all mental health professionals acknowledging the prevalence of this issue in the clinical field.

Only 42 percent of practitioners experiencing mental illness would be willing to tell their own family and friends about their condition, Psychiatry Advisor reported in 2015.

This hesitation to share one’s struggles stems from a stigma in our field sur-

letters@temple-news.com

LEEANNAH McNEW / THE TEMPLE NEWS

rounding depression, because it is often discourages mental health practitioners from disclosing their own struggles for the sake of professionalism.

“Stigma is a huge barrier to folks seeking help,” said Janie Egan, the mental well-being program coordinator for the Wellness Resource Center. “The whole issue with stigma is that folks tend to equate feeling bad with being bad. By experiencing some kind of mental health concern, we can get into these thought patterns of ‘there’s something wrong with me because I’m feeling this way’ and we feel like nobody else feels the same way.”

“What I try to emphasize in my interactions with mental health clinicians and trainees is our humanness,” said Crystal L. Austin, an assistant professor of psychological studies in education.

“We can be professionals and experts but we are humans above anything else and have our own needs for care and support.”

Therapists, clinicians and psychiatrists should look out for warning signs of mental illness in their colleagues and regularly encourage one another to open up about their mental health issues in order to break this stigma.

“We do have a responsibility to help protect one another,” said Daniel Walinsky, an associate professor of psychological studies in education whose research focuses on mental health and counseling psychology. “So occasionally ask one another, how are they doing. Not because your folks are necessarily at risk, but because it is decent and appropriate to practice showing that you care, by asking somebody how they are doing.”

“Ask your colleagues and your faculty about it and if you are starting out as a new practitioner, walk on the side of caution by seeking guidance and supervision,” Walinsky added, referring to mental health professionals dealing with mental health issues.

Mental health practitioners should disclose their own struggles and welcome their colleagues to do the same.

The well-being of those looking after us is at stake for as long as we let this issue go unnoticed.

Everyone deserves the freedom to seek help for their mental health if they’re struggling, and mental health practitioners are not an exception to that right. marina.milidou@temple.edu

temple-news.com

OPINION

PAGE 9

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

LGBTQ

Queer youth deserve to feel safe in their schools More than half of LGBTQ stu- than the national average, with bullying dents are bullied in school, re- and harassment being cited as a main quiring bullying policy changes. reason, the American Educational ReAs a queer individual, I remember high school as more of an uncomfortable circus show than a place of learning.

Those years are defined by judgmental glares and TYLER PEREZ OPINION EDITOR awkward questions rather than making honor roll or academic awards that I won. It felt like my sexual orientation was the opening act of a four-year-long muffled laugh by every one of my peers.

Although I wasn’t harshly bullied in high school because of my sexuality, for the vast majority of queer youth the issue is much more serious.

More than 50 percent of queer students feel unsafe in school due to frequent bullying by their classmates, and of those students, 87.3 percent have experienced harassment due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to a 2017 report on school climate for queer individuals by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

With National Coming Out Day approaching on Oct. 11, and Temple’s National Coming Out Week this week, let’s consider how coming out as queer can be one of the most dangerous actions a student can make when they don’t feel safe in their own school.

Our schools need to develop stronger bullying policies in order to hold students and teachers accountable for their ignorant behavior.

Queer students who experience bullying are more likely to have their academic achievement suffer, affecting everything from poor attendance to worsened academic performance, the American Psychological Association reported in 2012.

LGBTQ students are three times more likely to drop out of high school @TheTempleNews

search Association reported.

Although we tend to think of queerphobic bullying as being individual actions by students toward their peers, the issue doesn’t start and end just there.

Fifty-six percent of queer students have heard their teachers say homophobic remarks in school, and more than half of queer students experiencing discrimination don’t report it to staff due to ineffective bullying policies and ignorant teachers, a figure that has roughly remained the same since 2013, GLSEN reported.

“Because I identify as non-binary, I got made fun of a lot for that,” said Tori Ruth, a freshman psychology and classics major and a queer individual. “I remember one person used to call me ‘she’ or ‘it’ every time they either referred to me or spoke to me directly. Yet, when I blew up at him, I ended up at the principal’s office.”

Amy Hillier, an associate professor of social policy and practice at the University of Pennsylvania, recently partnered with the Attic, a youth center for LGBTQ youth, to develop and implement policies to protect the rights of queer students in schools.

For Hillier, this issue became much more significant and personal when her daughter came out as transgender a few years ago.

“I think there’s pushback to recognize that with nonbinary kids, those who use they/them pronouns, that that’s real, and that teachers need to gender them properly. So is that bullying, repeated misgendering? Well, yeah, it’s cruel,” Hillier said.

“With one of my favorite teachers, I asked her to use my pronouns, and she went on a whole lecture in front of the class about how my pronouns are grammatically incorrect and nobody should use them, and that made me really uncomfortable,” Ruth added.

HANNAH PANG / THE TEMPLE NEWS

When more than half of queer students don’t feel safe or welcome in school, and their teachers, administrators and legislators are only making that feeling worse, then it’s clear we’re facing an issue that requires an immediate solution with institutional change.

“Get your teachers professional development, “said Laurie McGuire, a K-5 teacher and the chair and policy coordinator for GLSEN Southern New Jersey.

“Get your teachers training so that they can really address bullying when it happens.”

All members of the school community, students and staff alike, need to col-

laborate in creating an inclusive culture that does not tolerate queerphobia, and that can be done through heightened awareness of LGBTQ issues in classrooms and greater accountability for those bullying queer students.

Teachers can start making a difference by instituting sexuality and gender identity education into the classroom and by making a conscious effort not to misgender their students, Ruth said.

The classroom should be a place of learning, not victimization, and any different is an absolute failure on our part. tyler.perez@temple.edu @tyler7perez

letters@temple-news.com

OPINION PAGE 10

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

THE ESSAYIST

Where this ‘Flower Boy’ blooms

Attending a Tyler, the Creator concert taught a writer how to embrace their sexual orientation.

BY TYLER PEREZ OPINION EDITOR “Garden shed for the garden, that is where I was hidin’, that was real love I was in, ain’t no reason to pretend.”

These lines open the final verse to “Garden Shed,” my favorite song by Tyler, the Creator, where he likens hiding his sexuality from others to being trapped in a garden shed, when all he wants to do is embrace his inner “Flower Boy”— his authentic identity, unfiltered by the constraints of hypermasculinity.

It’s a sentiment I can relate to, and with sexual orientation being a theme that Tyler addresses frequently in his music, songs like “Garden Shed” make me see myself in the rapper’s lyrics.

I came out as bisexual in high school but I didn’t break out of the garden shed at that point. I’m still shackled by hypermasculinity and the ways in which we’ve conditioned men to behave and dress.

The image of judgmental stares and chuckles as I walked into a party wearing glitter last Halloween still haunts me.

That moment was one of many reasons why I fear wearing my rainbow pride pin on my backpack, knowing the glares I’ll garner from passersby.

Listening to Tyler rap about the same fears makes me feel less alone.

Tyler’s best songs have lyrics that could’ve easily been ripped out of my own poetry notebook, and that connection drove me to frantically buy tickets to his Sept. 25 concert the moment they went on sale.

As a queer man, watching Tyler, the

letters@temple-news.com

EMMA STEVENS / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Creator perform in a gender-nonconforming outfit to sing love songs about other men was one of the most impactful moments of my life.

The outfit, a simple blue suit with a short bob haircut, made Tyler look genderless from the crowd’s perspective, freeing him from the constraints of hypermasculinity.

All those rules about what masculinity is evaporated the moment Tyler took the stage, and as someone struggling

with embracing my identity, watching that performance was liberating.

There’s something special to me about seeing this high-profile rapper glamorously strut across the stage while performing “Running Out of Time” when men — especially us men of color — are taught that any exhibition of femininity is forbidden.

While performing the show’s closer, “Are We Still Friends?,” Tyler danced flamboyantly on a pedestal for the whole

crowd to see, the whole stage illuminated in vivid, bright pink.

Above all else, the majority of the songs Tyler performed were from his most recent album “Igor,” which details the euphoric highs and tragic lows of relationship with a male love interest.

Tyler, the Creator inspires me, but not just because he uses his art as a vehicle to talk about his sexuality and the struggles accompanying that, but because he’s unapologetic about it.

On stage, he embraces his identity without hesitation — he dances, sings and behaves however he wants, and he doesn’t yield to any artificial rules of gender.

It’s this daring resistance that makes Tyler, the Creator one of my biggest role models as a young, queer man, and it’s that type of bravery that makes me want to wear glitter and rainbow pins to every party I go to from here on out.

It’s Tyler’s courage to be himself that pushes me to embrace my identity without reservation or regard for what anyone thinks.

I’m a “Flower Boy” in every way, learning to accept and blazon my identity however I can, and it only took a concert to teach me that.

In the days after the concert, I’m learning to live by one line from “Where This Flower Blooms.” It’s one lyric that expresses the beauty of coming into my own as a queer individual who’s unashamed.

It’s a mantra for self-acceptance regardless of how others perceive me: “I rock, I roll, I bloom, I grow.” tyler.perez@temple.edu @tyler7perez

temple-news.com

FEATURES TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

PAGE 11

MENTAL HEALTH

Athletes’ free access to app frustrates students

Temple Athletics announced it would give student-athletes free access to a meditation app.

BY ASA CADWALLADER For The Temple News

L

ast week, Rebecca Werez decided to seek counseling for her mental health. Soon after, she saw an announcement on Twitter that Temple would be offering a mental health-focused meditation app exclusively to student-athletes for free.

“It feels like a slap in the face,” said Werez, a senior journalism major. “It feels like the university is saying that regular students are not as important as athletes.”

She opted not to seek treatment at Tuttleman Counseling Services, an on-campus mental health service for students and faculty, after seeing the announcement.

On Sept. 23, Temple Athletics Department announced a new partnership with Headspace, a popular self-guided meditation app, that will provide more than 500 student-athletes free access to the app. The subscription typically costs $12.99 a month but offers a $9.99 annual student discount rate.

Werez, along with other students, tweeted to express their discontent with the announcement.

Stephanie Ives, associate vice president and dean of students, emailed Werez directly about her tweet to encourage her to seek services at TCS and offered to meet with her in person.

“It totally missed the point, which is, yeah, we have access to this service, but why aren’t we receiving the same level of assistance as athletes,” Werez said.

“Offering to meet with me in person is a nice gesture, but you aren’t a therapist so it doesn’t really help anything.”

“Tuttleman Counseling Services offers a variety of treatment options for Temple students because we know that different treatment modalities work for @TheTempleNews

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Alessandro Mancini, a senior sport and recreation management major, scrolls on his phone’s Headspace app outside of Charles Library on Sept 30.

different people,” Ives wrote in an email to The Temple News.

Temple reacted to students’ responses on Twitter by reminding them that all students have access to Headspace at the Resiliency Resource Center, an alternative self-care center, a part of TCS. The center offers the app on two iPods available to students at its facility and offers meditation tracks to listen on six other iPods.

“The use of these apps is free and students can experiment with as many as they like,” Ives wrote.

If students find a particular app they want to purchase, they can get financial support to do so by making a request through the Student Emergency Aid Fund, she added.

The RRC is only available to students who have completed a preliminary appointment, which requires a computer registration intake and a counselor interview, taking up to 90 minutes during weekly walk-in hours at TCS. “It’s complicated and frustrating,” Werez added. “There’s a difference be-

tween having to go through all these processes, go through the time it takes to be seen, versus them just handing it to the athletes.”

Lucy Reed, a senior public relations major and captain of Temple’s women’s field hockey team, said that the announcement was well-received among the student-athlete community.

“This wasn’t given to us out of nowhere, it was definitely an issue that was identified within the athletic community across all universities,” she added.

Reed said the negative feedback from non-student-athletes was a miscommunication.

“It’s about knowing the resources the university as a whole is providing, and then separating that from our athletic department,” she said.

Alessandro Mancini, a senior sport and recreation management major, said when using Headspace, he was frustrated to find the stress relief category he wanted was locked behind a paywall.

“I’m not a revenue-generating school playing athlete, but for a university that

claims to care about the mental health of their students … it’s very disappointing to see this offered only to a select group,” he added.

Ray Betzner, associate vice president of strategic marketing and communications, said the app was initially made available to students at the RRC to address’ students increased concern about mental health.

“There’s a lot of contact between student-athletes and coaches, coordinators and other Temple staff, so it made sense to pilot this service with athletes,” he said. “If it proves that the app is useful, then we’ll look into making it available for a broader population.”

He added that he sees the conversation about Headspace as an opportunity to inform students of available resources.

“Regardless of what is being offered or not, what this has made clear is that Temple students want and need more support from the university when it comes to mental health,” said Werez. asa.cadwallader@temple.edu

features@temple-news.com

FEATURES PAGE 12

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

COMMUNITY

Employment initiative gets $2.6-million donation

Temple academic departments and community organizations partner to boost employment.

BY ASA CADWALLADER For The Temple News In 2018, Philadelphia’s unemployment rate was 6.2 percent, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

At the same time, Shirley Moy, co-director of the Lenfest North Philadelphia Workforce Initiative at Temple, began working on a year-long research and development plan on North Philadelphia employment.

Now, the initiative, a community-based project of local residents, employers and Temple staff, is rolling out its full workforce development plan after receiving a $2.6-million donation from the Lenfest Foundation, a local charitable trust started by the late Gerry Lenfest, a former university trustee.

The development plan will create employment opportunities for North Philadelphia residents in Temple’s eight surrounding zip codes by partnering with 16 different community-based organizations, Moy said. The organizations began meeting to strategize for their plans on Sept. 25.

“The university can’t do it all,” Moy said. “We have to have partners to do this work, and there are already partners in this community doing great work. So the question on our minds was how do we expand and support what they do.”

It includes organizations like the Electrical Association of Philadelphia, a non-profit trade association for electrical contractors, JEVS Human Services, a Jewish career readiness organization, the Steppingstone Scholars, an educational nonprofit, and the Maternity Care Coalition, a coalition for pregnant women and families.

North Philadelphia represents a diverse group of people, according to Philadelphia Works, the workforce development board for the City of Philadelphia.

English is a second language for about 7 percent of residents. One-in-five features@temple-news.com

JEREMY ELVAS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Ulicia Lawrence-Oladeinde, director of community education program at Temple’s Office of Community Relations, stands outside her office on Sept. 13.

residents have disabilities, Philadelphia Works reported. They also found that the area of focus has seen over 23,200 formerly incarcerated citizens, or individuals who were formerly incarcerated, in the past six years. Accommodating these groups is a critical part of the plan’s strategy, Moy said.

The organizations will be paired with correlating Temple departments, forming 10 different strategic partnerships to target key demographics in need of job support in the area, she said.

The department of Spanish and Portuguese will partner with Congreso de Latinos Unidos Inc., a national organization with a chapter in North Philadelphia that seeks to bolster economic self-sufficiency for Latino residents. This will meet a demand for bilingual workers in the health and human service sector, and provide the formal Spanish language skills needed to be a professional translator, Moy added.

Another partnership will be between Temple’s Center for Bioethics, Urban Health and Policy and Called to Serve, a community development corporation focused on revitalizing local businesses and households.

Pastor Jeffrey Harley, executive di-

rector of Called to Serve, said the initiative’s funding, along with his organization’s “boots-on-the-ground” approach, is key to connecting residents with meaningful employment opportunities.

“The best anti-poverty program is a job,” he said. “An even better anti-poverty program is a good job, but the best anti-poverty program is a career that you are passionate about that provides benefits.”

Temple’s Pan-African Students Community Education Program will partner with the Center for Employment Opportunities. The partnership will support citizens who were formerly incarcerated after employment is secured, ensuring that they are paid every day and have check-ins with new hires, said Ulicia Lawrence-Oladeinde, director of community education at Temple’s Office of Community Relations, who runs PASCEP. Making information available in one place is critical in connecting residents, especially formerly incarcerated citizens, to substantial opportunities, Lawrence-Oladeinde said.

“We make sure we are in a position to share information with the community to make it known what is available to

them,” she added.

Amina Wright, 40, and Shauntae Williams, 37, who live between 15th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, said more job services are needed for residents in the Temple area.

“I work two jobs and get zero benefits on top of paying $700 for rent, taking care of my aunt and I don’t get no food stamps neither,” Wright said. “After my check come, I have like 50 cents after paying all that stuff.”

Williams added that Temple has a responsibility to help residents.

“They need to play a big part, because everything around here now is Temple,” Williams said. “We can’t even afford these properties no more. It ain’t right.”

Temple has an opportunity to serve as an anchor institution to forge meaningful partnerships with local organizations, Moy said.

“I love that our approach focuses on change through collective impact,” she added. “Often in the nonprofit world we are fighting for the same pennies, but what this program represents is partnership.” asa.cadwallader@temple.edu

temple-news.com

FEATURES TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

PAGE 13

FACULTY

Professor helps solve 30-year-old murder case Bryan Wolfe assisted in developing crime scene photos for a homicide case in Delaware County.

BY LILLIAN GERCZYK For The Temple News Byron Wolfe has dedicated his life to photographing U.S. landscapes and teaching aspiring photographers.

In never occurred to him that one day his photography skills would help solve a murder case.

In 2015, Wolfe, a professor and program head of photography at Tyler School of Art and Architecture, was contacted by Pennsylvania State Trooper Andrew Martin to assist in enhancing the crime scene photos of a 30-year-old cold homicide case.

“It was out of the blue,” Wolfe said.

“The detective said he had some film that was in terrible shape and wondered if I could work on it with him.”

Wolfe enhanced photos from the murder of Denise Sharon Kulb, 27, who died in 1991.

With Wolfe’s work police arrested Kulb’s then-boyfriend Theodore Dill Donahue for her murder on Sept. 3.

Kulb’s body was found in a remote area of Delaware County, only dressed in a sweater, with the rest of her clothes piled on top of her body, which included one yellow sock.

The crime scene photos were of poor, grainy quality, making it difficult for investigators to draw conclusions and piece together evidence.

“You couldn’t see much of anything, and that was pretty common in the ‘90s,” Wolfe said. “They made quick reference photographs, and the film had probably been processed in a drugstore.”

@TheTempleNews

DANIEL SETH KRAUS / COURTESY Photography program head Byron Wolfe (right) investigates rare microphotographs held at the Wagner Free Institute of Science during a research session at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY.

Wolfe had to improve the quality of the 35mm negatives to be more coherent. He used a high-resolution scanner.

Though Wolfe’s photo technique wasn’t new technology, his equipment was much more advanced than what’s typically used by police departments, he said.

“I made really high-resolution scans, and I did what I could to compensate for the poor exposures,” Wolfe said. “And

they could actually see what was in the pictures.”

Wolfe’s restoration of the photos proved to be an imperative component in solving the case, said Anthony Voci, chief of the homicide unit at the District Attorney’s Office of Philadelphia.

Investigators concluded from the photos that the yellow sock found on Kulb’s body was an exact match to a yellow sock that was found in Donahue’s

apartment, he added.

Wolfe’s assistance, coupled with Donahue’s frequent changes in his alibi, was enough to warrant an arrest, Voci said.

When Martin reopened the case in 2015, Donahue had presented authorities with a third version of his alibi. This time he claimed that the second version of events, in which he claimed he and Kulb were robbed, was a lie, and gave a different story, Voci said.

“That’s something that we didn’t have when the case got set aside — the third version of the suspect,” Voci added. “There’s no method to this madness, there’s no set time frame, and things can come up.”

Wolfe’s assistance in the investigation was “vitally important” in solving the case and bringing justice to Kulb’s family, wrote Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner in a statement to The Temple News.

“She was a daughter, a sister, a mother, a friend,” Krasner wrote. “She deserved far better than to be killed and left in a location unknown to those who mourned her.”

Wolfe said he credits the detectives for their investigative work. He added he’s willing to be of assistance again if the opportunity arises because as a professor, he believes it’s a part of his civic duty.

“Part of what a university is for is to be a public service,” Wolfe said. “It’s interesting how this skill set that I have, which is usually employed or deployed for creative purposes, have actually done something really practical.” lillian.rose.gerczyk@temple.edu

features@temple-news.com

FEATURES

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

PAGE 14

ASTROLOGY WORD SEARCH ARIES TAURUS GEMINI CANCER LEO VIRGO LIBRA SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES RETROGRADE CONSTELLATIONS HOROSCOPE

PHILLY CROSSWORD DOWN

ACROSS

1.The mascot of Philly’s hockey team

2. Philly’s basketball team

4. Steps leading to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art 5.The mascot of Philly’s baseball team 6. Philly’s hockey team 9. Largest municipal building in the country which is topped with a statue of William Penn

features@temple-news.com

3. A popular snack in Philly made with dough that is baked in the form of a knot 7. Iconic statue in John F. Kennedy Plaza 8. Performing arts center located on South Broad Street 10. Philly’s baseball team

temple-news.com

FEATURES TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

PAGE 15

LIVE IN PHILLY

Festival shows India’s ‘love and connection’

CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS

On Sept. 28, Philadelphia Rathyatra Street Festival hosted its annual Ratha Yatra festival, or the “Parade of Chariots.” This event began in Puri, Odisha, India 5,000 years ago to celebrate the deity Lord Jagannath’s journey to meet his devotees in the Indian holy city of Vrindavan.

“It’s basically to show the community God,” said Darsaan Khanna, a junior neuroscience major at University of the Sciences in Spruce Hill, Philadelphia.

“For us, we try to preach love of God,” he said. “We don’t try to say, this is God, you have to see this God. but it’s more like, ‘Hey, whatever religion you are, whatever culture, whatever you follow, it’s just the love and connection.’”

The day began with a parade on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, starting at John F. Kennedy Plaza and ending in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Attendees danced, sang and took turns pulling three chariots.

Prapash Geggernaueh, 56, from Long Island, New York, said he follows the festival in major cities along the East Coast.

“So many people don’t go to church or know the Lord, so he comes out once a year,” he said. “He makes himself available, and he comes to you. It is like special mercy. This is how kind he is.”

At the end of the parade, there was free vegan and vegetarian food, yoga and live performances.

Samyukkta Suryanarayanan, 16, came from Mt. Laurel, New Jersey.

“I love getting henna, dancing and singing,” she said. “My spirituality gives me a purpose. I know my main purpose is to serve the Lord. There are so many things that I can do for him and it makes me feel so happy and peaceful to do all of those things and I can always focus, because anything I am doing, I am doing for him. It brings things full circle.” @TheTempleNews

features@temple-news

FEATURES PAGE 16

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

FACULTY

Podcast discusses advertising’s diversity issues tising major, said there is an issue with Bjorn Henriques, an advertising dia, and marketing professionals, Hen- since 2011. riques discussed issues of diversity and There needs to be changes to the people of color being underrepresented instructor, spoke about the topic inclusion in advertising.

He created this social, political system as a whole, Smith in advertising board rooms. on a Philly Ad Club podcast.

BY CLAIRE BRENNAN For The Temple News When Bjorn Henriques became an interactive sales manager for Comcast Spotlight in 2016, part of his job was to travel to 11 different sales offices locations.

At his first visits, he’d always ask: “Is everyone here today?” to point out that there weren’t any Black salesperson in any of the offices, said Henriques, an advertising instructor at Temple.

“I realized that there wasn’t any diversity until you got to the positions of assistants or secretarial work and that type of support work,” he said. “It was something that needed to be talked about.”

In September’s episode of AdCast, a part of Philly Ad Club, a non-profit, trade association for advertising, me-

VOICES

Would you use a guided meditation app for mental health care?

podcast along with media professionals Melinda Ramos and Gary Shepherd, and the three of them serve on the Philly Ad Club diversity committee.

This problem of lack of representation for people of color goes beyond advertising board rooms, Henriques said.

Using phrases like Cardi B’s coined term “okurrr,”a replacement of OK, in advertising rubs him the wrong way and makes it come off as insincere, he added.

“A lot of African American culture is pop culture, in terms of influence, you see it bubble up into the mainstream,” Henriques said. “Unless you have people of that culture in the room, working that out, it’s going to come across as inauthentic a lot of the time. In a worst-case scenario, it’s going to come off as offensive.”

Tayyib Smith, a senior member at the Philadelphia creative agency Little Giant Creative, has known Henriques

said.

“A lot of times we gather at polite tables and never make changes,” Smith said. “There has to be mandates in order to deconstruct inequality … the hack that’s going to deconstruct inequality has to be man-made and intentional.”

Diversity and inclusion initiatives in advertising speak to financial, social, and political policies that make up the society we live in today, he added.

“It’s really difficult to make any transformative change when you’re just doing things that represent optics, or making white-led institutions look better or feel better, not really creating any type of change,” Smith said. “It kind of speaks to the financial, social and political apartheid state that has more to do with intergenerational policies that created the structure that we work within today.”

Imyah Sommerville, a junior adver-

ARSI PRENDI Senior biology major I think the app is so easy, and I like the calming voice. It helps me concentrate more on my studies.

I’ve tried other ones and I like this one the best. It’s expensive but I love using it.

SARAH HOWELL Sophomore undeclared major I personally don’t think I would use a guided meditation app. Meditation doesn’t really work for me.

features@temple-news.com

“I don’t know why the industry is so white-washed,” Sommerville said. “It’s the ideal image when you think of some families and products that people want to see and a lot of times that correlated to being white.”

She added that diversity is something the industry needs to continue working on, but has been improving in recent years.

Henriques said he sees diversity in advertising as a way not only to avoid “backtracking and apologizing” from brands after missteps but as a way to benefit companies as a whole. It will keep Philadelphia’s advertising industry strong, he added.

“To keep our pool robust and at a certain level and a certain standard, we have to focus efforts on building up the next generation and bring new talent into our industry,” he said. claire.brennan@temple.edu

AVERY PINNOCK Sophomore civil engineering major

I do enjoy them because it just helps me go to sleep. It’s calming, I come from New York so there’s a lot of noise outside so just putting headphones in and listening to that helps.

JASPER VIETH Freshman marketing major Yeah, it’s a great way to take my mind off something, like going to the library and using an app like that is a really easy and convenient thing to do, especially to get away from someone, like your roommate. temple-news.com

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

FEMINISM

‘Call Her Daddy’ gives new definition to feminism The Barstool Sports’ popular podcast explores female sexuality with humor.

BY ALESIA BANI Intersection Co-Editor

H

osted by best friends Alexandra Cooper, 24, and Sofia Franklyn, 26, the “Call Her Daddy” podcast has positive reactions among some college-aged women due to the co-hosts’ comedic approach to conversations about relationships and sex.

Barstool Sports, a sports and pop culture blog, began producing the podcast in October 2018, and has since released episodes with explosive titles like “You’re just a hole,” “Confessions of a mistress,” and “If you’re a five or six, die for that d*ck.” Cooper and Franklyn highlight taboo sexual topics each Wednesday.

Stacey Teach, a junior childhood education major, said it was the initial shock value that attracted her to the podcast, but she began to appreciate the topics that were discussed.

“Every girl goes through it where they feel invalidated by men but these girls are here to tell you that [it might seem like] you’re just a hole to this guy, but you’re not. You’re more than that,” Teach said.

Cooper calls the podcast “a women’s locker-room conversation” that they have a right to have, the New York Post reported. The inspiration for the name of the podcast is meant to flip the script on the usage of the word “daddy” in a sexual manner to indicate male dominance.

Although the podcast is hosted by two women, their content is not catered to women. The duo dedicates segments to offering sexual and romantic advice to both men and women, as well as answering questions and sharing stories from their viewers known as the “Daddy Gang.” Podcasts on Barstool rarely have

@TheTempleNews

NICOLE HWANG/ THE TEMPLE NEWS

50/50 listeners between males and females, but “Call Her Daddy” has achieved it, the New York Post reported.

“They break the stigma of women being so pure and show that being sexually active is nothing to be ashamed of,” said Kayla Maguire, a freshman communication studies major. “The information can be used by both men and women alike.”

Teach said she sees Cooper and Franklyn as “cool, older sisters” who have conversations about sex that are not included in sexual health curriculums in high school.

Schools in Pennsylvania are not required to teach sexuality education and must use materials that have been de-

termined by the local school district to be age-appropriate. Schools also must discuss prevention and stress abstinence as, “the only completely reliable means of preventing sexual transmission,” according to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.

“I remember being in middle school and coming into high school and experiencing things with guys, with myself and my body,” Teach said. “I didn’t know what the hell was going on. I deeply wish I had someone to tell me. They talk about sex in a way that doesn’t make you feel ashamed for having sex.”

Layah Taylor, a sophomore English major and a member of the Feminist Alliance, a student organization that works

to further the values of intersectional feminism, said she considers the podcast a form of reclaiming femininity because the hosts are being sexual instead of being sexualized without their consent.

“I think it’s empowering and refreshing to hear two women speaking so freely about their sexual experiences without fear of judgment or feeling obligated to talk about what they enjoy sexually because of a man’s presence,” Taylor said.

“They’re able to normalize taboo topics which communicate that sex and sexual experiences had by women shouldn’t be kept behind closed doors.” alesia.bani@temple.edu @alesia_bani

intersection@temple-news.com

INTERSECTION PAGE 18

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

LGBTQ

Porn furthers cisgender, heterosexual standards Students discuss pornography’s effect on their perception and sex and sexuality.

BY KARISSA GORNICK For The Temple News The lack of inclusive and comprehensive sexual education can lead adolescents to turn to pornography for information.

Mel Ferrara, a gender and women’s studies instructor, said mainstream porn focuses on showing pleasure, cutting out the sometimes awkward, but real moments in sexual experiences, like consent and intimacy.

“When we talk about sex in general, things that are really crucial to healthy and affirming experiences of sex have to do with communicating, especially around consent, and pleasure, what people want and negotiating those things,” Ferrara said. “Unfortunately with mainstream porn, a lot of those conversations are cut out.”

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia require public schools to teach sex education and only 20 states require that if provided, sex and or HIV education must be medically, factually or technically accurate, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Kayla Firestone, a senior linguistics major, said she received little to no sex education at Neshaminy High School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

“It really left me to my own devices,” Firestone said. “It didn’t even mention being queer as an option … If it weren’t for the fact that I had the internet, there wouldn’t be any words for my identity.”

Ninty-three percent of boys and 62 percent of girls were exposed to online pornography before the age of 18, according to an online survey of college students by Penn State Harrisburg School of Behavioral Sciences and Education.

Porn should not be used as an alternative for sexual education, because it is not a realistic portrayal of actual sexual experiences and does not teach adoles-

intersection@temple-news.com

LAURA STOCKDALE / THE TEMPLE NEWS

cents about relationships, sexual development or sexual health, Healthline reported.

Cassidy Sanders, a senior theater major, said pornography largely caters to male viewers, even in portraying LGBTQ sexual experiences.

“It’s enormously heterosexual,” Sanders said. “Legitimate bisexual representation just isn’t there. I don’t feel like I have ever seen anything that really shows what it’s like to be a bisexual woman.”

Marvin Manalo, a senior kinesiology major, said he’s experienced fetishization of his ethnicity personally and through porn, in which Filipino men were called race-based derogatory names.

“Porn is acting,” Manalo said. “The way sex workers portray what sex should be is a total 180 degrees from reality.”

Porn perpetuates a cisgender and heteronormative culture which leads to the objectification of marginalized communities, like the hypersexualization of Black women and fetishization of Asian women, as well as the eroticization of queer and trans people of color, Ferrara added.

In Pornhub’s annual year in review, interest in transgender porn saw significant gains in 2018, becoming the fifth most searched term by those aged 45 to 64, according to the pornography website’s analytics.

Black and Latino men were more likely to use aggression compared to white men in pornography, perpetuating the stereotype that Black and Latino men are more violent. Latina and Black women were usually portrayed as “exotic seductresses”, while Asian women

were portrayed as an exotic “Dragon Lady” seductress, or an infant-like “submissive doll”, according to a study that analyzed 172 pornographic videos by the department of sociology at McGill University.

There is also a perception that adult actors perform for the “male gaze,” or to provide sexual gratification for the male viewer, Ferrara said.

“It’s harmful to be stereotyping and reinforcing these cultural norms for male viewers, but also for those identities viewing it who suddenly feel certain types of pressure to reproduce those stereotypical norms in their own sex lives,” Ferrara added. “Especially those who didn’t have affirming sex education.” k.gornick@temple.edu

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

LGBTQ

Queer students of color discuss using dating apps Stereotypes of queer people of color make online dating difficult for some students.

BY HAILEY PALMER For The Temple News Dating apps present a unique set of challenges for people of color in the LGBTQ community.

About 65 percent of same sex couples met online in 2017, compared to about 39 percent for heterosexual couples, according to a 2019 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Queer People of Color, a student organization that empowers and educates queer people of color at Temple University and in Philadelphia, discussed dating in the queer community at its meeting on Sept. 23.

Students in the organization said they have not always had positive experiences while on dating apps, and identified Tinder, Bumble, Her and Coffee Meets Bagel as the most commonly used platforms.

Indigo Vaughan, a freshman political science major who mostly uses Tinder, said people automatically assume things about his sexuality by the way he looks, which can be a struggle.

“People have trouble reading me and when I tell them I’m non-binary, and then I also say I’m attracted to girls.

People just get confused as to how that works,” Vaughan said. “People just automatically assume if you’re queer and you’re masculine-presenting that you have to like guys and that’s not always the case.”

Ashia Burns, a junior psychology major, said when using Tinder she has often been assumed as cisgender and straight and receives negative reactions when clarifying she is non-binary and bisexual.

“A lot of the interaction would feel like what I call ‘gender-role scripts.’ The

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CAMRYN SHEASLEY / THE TEMPLE NEWS

guy has to come up to the girl, and the girl has to be really quiet and you have to go through these specific motions, especially with men,” Burns said. “That was always difficult because that is not the mold that I feel comfortable with when it comes to interacting with people. And once you establish that, people would disappear because to them it’s read as a challenge.”

As a Black woman, Burns said she has yet to find a dating app she likes.

“Especially when it comes to not being the light-skinned with really loose curly hair type of black woman that is often fetishized and exoticized,” Burns said. “That was another layer of oppression that sort of goes on in dating apps for me, but that’s the reality of the experience sometimes. It’s not always this

cookie cutter, super happy experience.

Sometimes it is something negative.”

Burns worries about having her identity questioned when using dating apps.

“I was also afraid of really falling into a certain sort of stereotype or anything like that because there’s a lot of like stuff that goes around about bisexual people being promiscuous,” Burn said.

“And then there’s also the stigma that goes around with Black women being promiscuous. And to be both of those things at the same time is really kind of confounding.”

Bisexuals are often stigmatized by straight people and the queer community, according to a 2011 survey by the LGBT Advisory Committee. Around 47

percent of people would not date someone who is bisexual, while 19 percent were undecided, according to a survey by Adam and Eve, a sex toy company.

QPOC discussed was having a dating app exclusively for queer people of color during the meeting.

Burns said she thinks this would be a good idea because of racial discrimination within the queer community.

“It’s really hard to feel that you are being your full and open true self because yes, you are able to show your queerness, but you also have to hold back the parts of you that are so important too like your ethnicity and your culture,” Burns added. hailey.palmer@temple.edu

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INTERSECTION PAGE 20

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

CULTURE

Binge-watching: A tool to escape or connect?

Students explain why they spend hours watching shows and movies on streaming services.

BY SRISHTI RAMESH For The Temple News With the rise of streaming platforms, binge-watching has become a common experience for college students.

Sixty percent of adults who watch shows on demand said they binge-watch television, which is defined as watching two or more consecutive episodes of a show, at least once a week. Fifteen percent reported they binge-watch each day, according to a 2018 poll by the Morning Consult and Hollywood Reporter.

Kyra Heyl, a sophomore public health major, started binge-watching TV in her senior year of high school and the habit picked up again in college.

She gets excited when finding peers who enjoy watching the show New Girl, a sitcom streaming on Netflix starring ac-

tress Zooey Deschanel.

“I wanted to watch all the shows that other people were recommending so I could … have something to talk about with other people as an icebreaker to conversation,” Heyl said.

Spending time alone binge-watching is more enjoyable when absorbed in a show because you want to find out what happens in the next episode, Heyl added.

“You kind of lose your desire to be around other people because you can easily fall in love and get attached to characters and that’s all you want to do rather than take little breaks,” she added.

Netflix claimed to have 40 million accounts in a 2019 letter to its shareholders. The streaming service has an auto-play function, which automatically takes viewers from episode to episode, enabled by default.

Shreya Gowda, a freshman biology major, said believes it is the responsibility of the user to practice self-control and

moderate how much they are watching.

“Having easy access to streaming isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Gowda said. “It’s helpful on bad days because it’s a very easy escape.”

Gowda binge-watched shows frequently in high school, once watching 10 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy in three weeks. Now, she limits herself as the demand of college life does not give her as much free time.

There are links between binge-watching and increased anxiety and depression, mostly due to the excess of screen time and the isolation that comes along with spending hours watching a show alone, according to a 2015 study by the American Public Health Association.

Gowda said she often finds herself binge-watching when she is stressed and procrastinating from doing school assignments, and the more stressed she is the more likely she will continue watching.

“When you binge a show you get consumed by it so therefore even if you understand you have other priorities, you give in to your wants more than your needs,” Gowda said. “It’s a really easy way to engross yourself in something that’s not your daily life, especially if that daily life is giving you stress or if you just don’t want to deal with something.”

Avid binge-watchers reported poor sleep quality, increased fatigue and more insomnia symptoms, according to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Freshman biology major Aasha Subramanian said she knows her binge habits can have negative effects, but she still engages in the behavior at times.

“It’s much more addictive and it takes more time out of my day for sure which is not healthy at all, but I wouldn’t give it up,” Subramanian said. srishti.ramesh@temple.edu

GRACE DiMEO / THE TEMPLE NEWS

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SPORTS PAGE 21

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

MEN’S SOCCER

New captains draw on past leadership experience Coach Brian Rowland is starting to consider players for captaincy for future seasons.

BY JAY NEEMEYER Sports Editor Temple University men’s soccer has three new captains this season.

The new captains are forward Lukas Fernandes, senior defender Nick Sarver, and junior defender Pierre Cayet.

“Those three guys kind of emerged as people that raised their level of influence and leadership in the spring,” Coach Brian Rowland said.

Rowland announced the three captains prior to the Owls’ first game of the season, but Fernandes said he has embraced the role since January.

Sarver believes Rowland intentionally waited until right before the first game to make the announcement.

“I think Rowland did it on purpose just to see how people would carry themselves moving forward, just to make sure he made the proper decision,” he said.

Fernandes and Cayat have been key players this season.

Fernandes leads the team in points with two goals.

Cayat has played 630 minutes — every minute of the Owls’ seven games this season.

Sarver played in only two games, once against Georgetown University on Sept. 2, in which the Owls lost 3-0. He then saw the field on Sept. 27 against Central Florida when Temple lost 2-0.

All three have previous experience as team leaders.

As high school senior, Sarver was captain of his PA Classics Academy team in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at which players compete with others of the same age.

“It was still a leadership role, but it was a little bit different because

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PHOTOS BY COLLEEN CLAGGETT AND JEREMY ELVAS. DESIGN BY INGRID SLATER (From left to right) Senior forward Lukas Fernandes, junior defender Pierre Cayat and senior defender Nick Sarver are captains of the men’s soccer team.

everyone was the same age,” Sarver said.

“There weren’t younger players that were looking up to a role model as it is more in college.”

This year, Sarver has tried to put himself back into “freshman year shoes,” and remember what he looked for in a captain, he said.

Fernandes was a two-year captain in high school for the Churchville-Chili Saints in Rochester, New York.

Cayet was captain of the Long Island Rough Riders, a development soccer league, this spring. He plaed six games alongside players from other universities, including the Hoyas and

James Madison University.

“Being a captain there was a huge privilege,” Cayat said. “It helpd me a lot, getting a lot of experience as a captain, so now I can use this experience to help my teammates at Temple.”

It is important to have at least one junior captain who will return to the team once the senior captains graduate, Rowland said.

“I think that’s always important to not have a leadership vacuum, where you lose all your captains in one year and you have to repeat the process every spring,” Rowland said.

Rowland is considering players who

could wear an armband in the future, he added.

Fernandes and Sarver both said they could see sophomore forward Andres Charles become a leader soon.

“I would think [Charles] has been a great leader for how young he is,” Fernandes said. “He’s experienced playing a full season last year as a freshman and starting almost every single game, if not every single game. I think he can definitely do a great job being a leader in the future.” jay.neemeyer@temple.edu @neemeyer_j

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SPORTS PAGE 22

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

CLUB SPORTS

Club paintball gains graduate from rival school Brandon Mojica eliminated the Owls from national tournaments with Central Florida.

BY DONOVAN HUGEL Women’s Soccer Beat Reporter Brandon Mojica remembers playing as an undergraduate for Central Florida against Temple at the 2014 National Collegiate Paintball Association National Championships, he said.

“They played very aggressively,” said Mojica, now a podiatric medicine graduate student at Temple. “Those Temple teams were very, very good and challenged us.”

UCF won the championship in 2014, with Mojica being one of their best players.

Now, Mojica, a member of Temple’s paintball club, is committed to taking down his old school.

“It would mean a lot to me to be able to beat [UCF] at their own game,” he said. “They always talk crap to me. Like, ‘We’re going to get you, we’re targeting you, you’re not going to make it off the break Brandon.’”

Mojica, a 2015 pre-clinical health alumnus, started playing paintball when he was 15 while living in Brandon, Florida. He began playing at a competitive level when he turned 16.

He and his friends created a high school league consisting of six schools, playing every weekend, he said.

“A bunch of my friends that I played locally with started going to UCF,” Mojica said. “We really liked playing together so we kept it going in college.

We had a kind of cohesion and chemistry because we had already been playing together for years.”

With the Knights, Mojica and the team saw tremendous success, winning the Collegiate World Cup in 2013 and 2014 and winning the NCPA Championship in 2014.

After graduating, Mojica took a

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COURTESY / SOULLESS PHOTOGRAPHY Brandon Mojica, a podiatric medicine graduate student, shoots at an opponent during the College Paintball National Championships at the Austin Tindall Regional Park in Kissimmee, Florida between April 12-14.

break from school before enrolling in Temple’s School of Podiatric Medicine for the 2018-19 academic year.

Mojica wanted to play on Temple’s paintball team when he arrived.

The Owls knew they had to recruit him when they found out he enrolled, said James Fraley, a junior kinesiology major.

“He’s a really good player,” said Fraley, the club’s secretary. “I haven’t faced him in a tournament, but just from going up against him in practice he’s really good and has a big impact on our team.”

While the Owls haven’t been able to win a national championship, they’ve been a perennial championship contender and are one of the top teams in the country. The Owls is ranked No. 25 in the AA Division of the NCPA.

The Knights have eliminated Temple in the semifinals twice and the quarterfinals once in the last three seasons.

In 2017, the Knights and Owls played a tight semifinal, with the Knights winning 8-7. In 2018, the Knights won their quarterfinal matchup 6-3, and shut out the Owls in the semifinals 4-0.

“He probably frustrated a lot of alumni with how good he is,” said Jason Spencer, a junior English major and the club’s vice president. “He’s a big personality and he’s really competitive.

He likes to get chants going to mess with the other team. Plus he’s hard to miss since he’s 6’5” or something like that.”

Now on the other side of the rivalry, Mojica is helping the Owls plan a matchup with the Knights, he said.

“We definitely have game planned

because I know a lot of the UCF guys,” Mojica said. “So now that all those younger guys are finally at UCF, I know their play style. So we have somewhat of an advantage if we go up against them, but this time around we just have to beat them.”

Other than beating his former school, Mojica has one goal for this season: to help bring the Owls their first national championship.

“To bring a national title to Temple would also be an amazing feeling,” Mojica said. “Temple has always been there for as long as I’ve been playing collegiately. The Temple ‘T’ has a lot of meaning behind it, and I want to help make our team the best.” donovan.hugel@temple.edu @donohugel

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SPORTS PAGE 23

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

FOOTBALL

Amid passing struggles, run game brings success

Temple amassed its most running yards this season its win over Georgia Tech.

BY DANTE COLLINELLI Assistant Sports Editor Temple University football (3-1, 0-0 The American Athletic Conference) freshman running back Re’Mahn Davis carried the ball for a career-high 29 times on Saturday against Georgia Tech University (1-3, 0-1 The ACC).

That is 14 more than his previous total this season.

In all three of Temple’s victories this season, the Owls have had more than 35 rushing attempts. In their one loss on the road against the University at Buffalo (23, 0-1 The MAC) on Sept. 21, Temple only ran the ball 23 times.

The Owls garnered 207 rushing yards, the most this season, against Georgia Tech on Sept. 28.

Temple will rely on their running game more as they enter conference play Thursday, Oct. 3 on the road against East Carolina (3-2, 0-1 The AAC), coach Rod Carey said.

“On offense, we did exactly what we wanted to do,” Carey said. “We wanted to come out and run the ball, and we established that.”

Davis gained 136 rushing yards on his 29 carries against the Yellow Jackets but was not the only Owl with a heavy workload. Redshirt-senior running back Jager Gardner carried the ball 18 times, picking up 71 yards.

In total, Temple ran the ball 49 times against the Yellow Jackets, which is 10 attempts higher than their previous high of 39 against the University of Maryland (2-2, 0-1 The Big 10).

Running the football more often was a focal point for Temple’s game plan against Georgia Tech and will be going forward, Davis said. “[Running the ball more] shows

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JUSTIN OAKES / THE TEMPLE NEWS Redshirt-senior running back Jager Gardner carries the ball during the Owls’ game against Georgia Tech at Lincoln Financial Field on Sept. 28.

I’m here to do whatever I need to do for the team,” Davis added. “Whether it is a three-yard gain or a fourth and one, I’m gonna try and get that for [the team].”

Even with the recent success in the running game, Temple only averages 141 rushing yards per game and ranks ninth out of 12 in The American.

The Owls’ next three opponents rank higher than them in rushing yards per game. The Pirates rank eighth with 173.4 yards per game, Memphis (4-0, 1-0 The AAC) ranks sixth with 196.5 yards per game and Southern Methodist (5-0, 1-0 The AAC) ranks fifth with 222.4 yards per game.

The Owls’ emphasis on the running game comes at a time when redshirtjunior quarterback Anthony Russo’s statistics have declined in recent weeks.

In the first two games of the season, Russo compiled 686 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. In the last two games, Russo has compiled 385 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions.

Despite this, Carey is happy with the play of his quarterback so far this season.

“I don’t know if it is fair to say that he struggled,” Carey said after Russo completed 40.9 percent of his passes on Saturday. “I think it is fair to say that he

executed at an amazingly high level for what we asked him to do.”

Russo believes the offense has a lot to work on and his game against Georgia Tech “was not his greatest game,” he said.

“Whether it is me throwing a touchdown or the running backs running touchdowns, if we get a win, at the end of the day we’re happy,” Russo said. “It was not the prettiest game for me, but I gotta watch the film tomorrow and correct going on to ECU next week.” dante.collinelli@temple.edu @DanteCollinelli

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SPORTS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019

PAGE 24

FOOTBALL

He’s got ‘big dreams’ Jadan Blue leads the Owls in receiving yards this season, but the redshirtsophomore wide receiver wants more.

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Redshirt-sophomore wide receiver Jadan Blue walks onto the feild before the start of the Owls’ game against Georgia Tech at Lincoln Financial Feild on Sept. 28.

BY ALEX McGINLEY Assistant Sports Editor Jadan Blue feels blessed.

After playing in just eight games and recording three catches for 39 yards last season, the redshirt-sophomore wide receiver leads Temple football with 402 receiving yards through four games.

“It feels good,” Blue said. “All these blessings come from God, so it always feels good.”

Last season, Blue played behind more experienced wide receivers like Ventell Bryant and Brodrick Yancy. When they graduated, it left an opportunity open for Blue to step up.

This year, Blue is a big part of the receiving corps, along with seniors Isaiah Wright and Randle Jones and redshirt-junior Branden Mack. sports@temple-news.com

Being a younger player in an experienced receiving corps has helped Blue become a better receiver, he said.

“I learned what they do well and things they don’t do well,” Blue said.

“That’s how you become a good player.

You learn from their goods and their bads. They’ve always been those types of guys that you can learn from, and I’m thankful to have them.”

Blue scored his first collegiate touchdown in Temple’s 56-12 win against Bucknell University on Aug. 31. Blue received an eight-yard shovel pass from redshirt-junior quarterback Anthony Russo.

Blue finished the game with 10 catches and 117 receiving yards.

“I think that was huge for [Blue’s] confidence,” Russo said after practice on Sept. 10. “Last year, he was making those

plays in practice, but he didn’t really get his chance in games. So being able for him to realize that not only can [he] make those plays in practice, but [he] can make them out on the field on a Saturday as well just boosts his confidence.”

Blue has compiled at least 65 receiving yards in every game this season.

Blue’s second touchdown came in the Owls’ 20-17 win against the University of Maryland. Blue received a pass from Russo down the sideline and took it to the endzone for 79 yards.

Blue’s reception against the Terrapins remains his longest of the season.

“He’s explosive, he catches the ball well and he runs good routes,” coach Rod Carey said. “Any time we put the ball in his hands, he can go, so we’ve seen a lot of that.”

In former coach Geoff Collins’ offense last season, Blue was used in the running game and had 18 rushing yards. Blue has not been used in the running game yet this season. He is used differently, earning more reps in Carey’s offense, but hopes to get more involved in the running game, Blue said.

“Utilized differently, definitely,” Blue said. “Putting the ball in the air and trusting me to put the ball in my hands.

Rushing yards, I believe they coming soon too.”

Blue wants to eclipse 1,500 receiving yards this season, which has never been accomplished by a Temple receiver.

“Of course, [I want to] lead the team and The American,” Blue said. “I got big dreams.” alex.mcginley@temple.edu @mcginley_alex

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