Volume 93 Issue 27

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A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

2014 Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award Winner temple-news.com

TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2015

VOL. 93 ISS. 27

Food truck vending district considered An administrator said vendors could one day be together in one space. LIAN PARSONS The Temple News

Recovering on Campus

An in-depth look at students in recovery and the resources Temple provides for them.

D

PATRICIA MADEJ | Managing Editor

URING A YEAR IN WHICH KEVIN WAS struggling with addiction, he spent about $4,000 on alcohol and drugs, including Oxycontin pills – a single one cost him $25 on the street. “Hey Kev, listen – you ever try an Oxycontin pill before?” Kevin said his friend asked. “Listen, you can take it, and just don’t do it again. You know, it’s a great experience – it’s a great kind of high and everything, and you don’t have to take it again.” “I promise.” After about four months passed, Oxy became too expensive for Kevin – so he began snorting heroin for three months. It wasn’t until he was about to use the drug through an IV that he said he realized he needed to get some help. Kevin, who asked not to include his last name in this story because of the societal stigma that surrounds those struggling with addiction and in recovery, is now a 21-year-old undeclared freshman. He took some time off from school during his first year to recover. Now, he’s doing well in school and about one year and five months clean. Kevin wasn’t alone. There were about 23.5 million Americans addicted to drugs and alcohol in 2010, according to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. Drug use is highest between those 18 to 20 –

RECOVERY PAGE 14

photo illustration

& featured photo JENNY KERRIGAN TTN

There were about 23.5 million Americans addicted to drugs and alcohol in 2010, according to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.

ONLINE

SPECIAL PRESENTATION Hear audio interviews of students recovering from addiction and see the multimedia package created for this story on The Temple News’ website. longform.temple-news.com

Investigators release Katz crash report in the private jet crash that claimed the lives of longtime Temple trustee Lewis Katz, 72, and six others on May 31. The rest of the plane appears charred in photos of the accident site, part of about 800 pages of information in the NTSB report on the crash, released last week following months of investigation. Witnesses and emergency crews told media outlets on the scene that the plane rolled down past the end of the runway before crashing into a gulley and erupting in flames. “I watched it roll down the runway at high speed,” wrote Chris Merrill, who

The NTSB report on the crash mostly focuses on a cockpit device and the pilots. JOE BRANDT News Editor One photograph from the National Transportation Safety Board shows the Gulfstream G-IV’s cockpit; burned and blackened after a takeoff went wrong on a cool May night at Hanscom Field in Massachusetts. The exterior paint on the front of the plane containing the cockpit was left intact

KATZ PAGE 3

COURTESY TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

Former trustee Lewis Katz.

Accessibility for museums questioned

Philly has long been an apex for galleries, but access to them differs throughout the city. ANGELA GERVASI The Temple News It’s difficult to measure exactly how much art exists in the city of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Museum of Art alone holds 227,000 works, not including the

sprawling temporary exhibits that grace the building each year. The Barnes Collection encompasses more than 3,000 creations – an assemblage that holds dozens of Picassos, scores of Cézannes and 180 Renoirs. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts holds nearly 2,000 paintings, along with hundreds of sculptures, photographs and prints inside one of the city’s most distinctive historical buildings on Broad and Cherry streets. Philly’s art collection remains bound-

NEWS - PAGES 2-3, 6

LIFESTYLE - PAGES 7-8, 14-16

less, but the abundance of culture housed in its museums begs a pressing question: how accessible is the city’s art to its residents? Joanna Moore, a retired associate professor at the Tyler School of Art, now sits on the Education Committee at the PMA, where she said accessibility is a hot-button topic. “[The] issue of easing access for students to the museum’s resources is always a concern on which we spend a lot of time

ACCESSIBILITY PAGE 13 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT - PAGES 9-13

The owner of a Main Campus food truck said he was denied permission to hook up to power lines after officials from the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections indicated the university would consolidate food trucks to only a few streets to create a “vending district.” Rafael deLuna III, the associate director of sustainability at the University of Pennsylvania and current co-owner of El Guaco Loco, a new Mexican food truck located on Montgomery Avenue near Klein Hall, told The Temple News the previous occupant of the spot took the installed electric meter that was used to power the truck when he left Main Campus. DeLuna said in posts on El Guaco Loco’s Facebook page that the city denied PECO permission to install a new meter because Temple was going to create the vending district that would allow a limited number of food trucks. Jim Creedon, vice president for construction, facilities

Some residents want an anti-speculation tax bill for sales of fixedup area properties. STEVE BOHNEL Assistant News Editor During the past 15 years, many of North Philadelphia’s longtime residents have been forced to leave their homes because of rising property rates. Now, The Philadelphia Coalition for Affordable Communities wants the city to take action – specifically, through a proposal in its recently published report, “Development Without Displacement.” The report’s suggested solution is an anti-speculation tax bill – a provision that would penalize developers for buying properties, fixing them up and “flipping” them for profit. The bill would introduce a 1.5 percent increase on the city’s Realty Transfer Tax, but would only apply to properties sold more than once in a two-

year period. The coalition predicts the increase would raise $12 million annually for the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund, which could be allocated toward more affordable housing units and critical repairs for current property owners. According to the report, the median gross property rental rate for selected neighborhoods in the region – including areas around Temple – increased 27 percent from 2000-12. During the same period, median household income dropped 6 percent. Regarding the issue of gentrification and North Philadelphians being displaced out of their homes, Nora Lichtash, a principal member of the coalition and a Germantown resident, said the association doesn’t blame government, landowners or universities – it just wants the issue resolved. “We are not ascribing blame toward the university or any neighborhood,” Lichtash, a Temple alumna, said. “But the

HOUSING PAGE 6

BY THE NUMBERS BREAKDOWN OF THE PCAC’S PROPOSED TAX INCREASE

1.5 %

PROPOSED INCREASE TO CITY REALTY TRANSFER TAX

Alumna creates ‘Roar for Good’

Satirical play returns to the stage

“Unedited North Philadelphia” was a conversation and presentation on the history of the neighborhood. PAGE 2

Yasmine Mustafa, who immigrated to Philadelphia from Kuwait, created a wearable safety device for women. PAGE 7

“The Colored Museum,” first performed in 1986, ran at Temple Theater Sidestage. PAGE 9

The Essayist: Letter to my birth mother

TRUCKS PAGE 2

Tax hike proposed for ‘flipped’ homes

Traveling back, at the Wagner

OPINION - PAGES 4-5

and operations, said plans for a vending district “are not imminent.” He added that the university has talked with the city about potential changes, but no action will be taken any time in the near future. “There’s a possibility down the road of creating a parking lot where trucks can permanently be, but I don’t see that happening in the near term,” Creedon said. “It was a concept that was developed as part of our landscape plan. … We’re wrestling with it.” L&I, which handles permits, certificates and vending licenses for food trucks, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. DeLuna said he and his brother Ronaldo, the other coowner of the truck, were told to ask for a letter of support for a new meter from Councilman Darrell Clarke, whose district includes Temple, and were told that no meters are allowed to be installed. “We’re going to run [the truck] by generator instead of a meter for now, which we don’t want to do because that’s not sustainable,” deLuna said. Currently, there are food trucks and carts along Montgomery Avenue, Norris, 13th and 12th streets which offer a variety of options and include

$12 MILLION

ANTICIPATED ANNUAL REVENUE, WHICH WOULD GO TO THE CITY’S HOUSING TRUST FUND

SPORTS - PAGES 17-20

Freshmen stand out in practice


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