Volume 93 Issue 29 by The Temple News

A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

2014 Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award Winner TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

temple-news.com

VOL. 93 ISS. 29

The Commencement Issue

CLOSING THE BOOKS

INSIDE OUR final ISSUE SENIOR PROFILES

CRIME & CAMPUS

THE YEAR IN PHOTOS

In all sections of this week’s paper, soon-to-be graduates reflect on their collegiate careers and discuss their aspirations for the future.

The Temple News presents its staff project: a longform investigation on campus crime and the methods Temple Police uses to protect the university community. PAGE C1

A two-page spread this week includes some of the most noteworthy photos taken by The Temple News’ photographers during the 2014-15 academic year. PAGE 14

KARA MILSTEIN TTN

NEWS PAGE 2

temple-news.com

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

‘Philly is Baltimore’ protest involves students, community Freddie Gray’s death led to demonstrations in several cities. JACK TOMCZUK The Temple News Tempers flared as protesters clashed with Philadelphia police Thursday night during a march in support of those protesting in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray. Gray, 25, was arrested April 12 and died a week later due to a spinal cord injury. Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said during a press conference Friday that he suffered a severe neck injury while handcuffed in the back of the Baltimore police van following his arrest, the Washington Post reported. The officers involved in the incident have been charged with assault and other charges, and the van driver was charged with manslaughter. Gray’s death has been the most recent national rallying point for increased oversight and prevention of police misconduct, a movement not lost on college campuses. Several Temple students, including Ph.D. candidate Melanie Newport and senior journalism and political science double major Rose Daraz, attended the event, called “Philly is Baltimore.” Newport, who is writing her dissertation on the prison system, has been attending rallies opposing racism and police brutality since the protests held after Trayvon Martin’s death in 2012. “This is historic,” Newport said. “This has been building for a long time. It’s a civil rights movement. You have to be involved in it to live with yourself.” Newport added that the rally’s crowd was bigger than rallies she’s attended in the past.

HARRISON BRINK TTN

(ABOVE): Franklin Ford, 87, marches in the “Philly is Baltimore” protest on April 30. (BELOW): Several protesters gathered in Dilworth Park for the rally.

Daraz said she focused more on supporting the protesters in Baltimore, who clashed with police last week, leading to a 10 p.m. curfew in the city and an empty Orioles baseball game. “I came out in solidarity with Baltimore,” she said. “Black lives are endangered. We should all be out here.” A brief confrontation between law enforcement and demonstrators occurred at the corner of Broad and Vine streets as the protesters were attempting to stop traffic on the Vine Street Expressway. The officers eventually fell back and allowed the march to continue on Vine Street. At least two people were detained as a result of the incident, the Inquirer reported. Aside from that moment of tension, the protest was mostly peaceful.

The march followed several speeches in Dilworth Park organized by the Philly Coalition for REAL Justice. Tanya Brown-Dickerson, whose son, Brandon Tate-Brown, was killed in a police shooting in Northeast Philadelphia on Dec. 15, 2014, told the crowd she was “thankful” for its presence, and said her son was “gunned down like a dog.” Brown-Dickerson said she wished the public could have seen the video shown to her by the police’s Internal Affairs office. The video was not released, and the District Attorney’s office cleared the officers in March. Protesters marched through several neighborhoods in Center City and chanted a variety of slogans for their cause. The crowd yelled,“You are not alone,” when they gathered at the Federal Detention Center. The hands of those inside could be seen through the narrow windows. Business owners and pedestrians appeared confused when the demonstrators marched through Chinatown. When protesters were faceto-face with police officers at the Four Seasons Hotel, they shouted “Hands up, don’t shoot,” a chant which rose to popularity after the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The marchers forced roads to shut down all over Center City and attracted many police officers—including those on bikes, horses, motorcycles, in cars and vans, on foot and in a helicopter. Despite the clear animosity between law enforcement and protesters and several anxious moments, the demonstration lacked the violence of Monday night’s riots in Baltimore. * jack.tomczuk@temple.edu T @JackTomczuk

Lacrosse player TSG administration reflects injured in hitand-run accident One of the members is graduating, while others will continue. DAVID GLOVACH The Temple News

Rachel Hall was riding her bike near 13th and Diamond streets when she was hit. EJ SMITH ANDREW PARENT The Temple News Rachel Hall, a senior goalkeeper who had just finished up her career for Temple’s lacrosse team, was the victim of a hitand-run last Wednesday night at the intersection of Diamond Street and Park Avenue. Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said the criminal justice major was riding her bike southbound on Park Avenue when she was struck by a vehicle at around 7:10 p.m. Wednesday. He added that she was taken to Temple University Hospital, where she remains in the intensive care unit in critical condition as of Monday night. Leone added that the vehicle, a silver Mitsubishi Galant, appeared to have three men inside and have possible windshield damage on the passenger side. The vehicle has been located by police, and charges have been submitted against an 18-year-old male driver who said he panicked and drove away after he crashed into Hall, the Inquirer reported. Kathy Hall, Rachel’s mom, posted on a Facebook page titled “Rachel Hall Temple Strong” on Sunday night. According to the post, Rachel Hall remains in the hospital with a fractured skull with bleeding to the brain and a dissected/torn right carotid artery, and is cur-

rently connected to a ventilator in order to help her breathing. Kathy Hall added that Rachel Hall has been unconscious since the accident, and has a “strong feeling” that her daughter will be hospitalized for several months. The post has been shared more than 70 times, and dozens of people have commented in support of the 22-year-old. Athletic Communications released a statement Thursday from lacrosse coach Bonnie Rosen, which reads, “I met with our team today and everyone is still in shock upon hearing about what happened to Rachel last night. Words cannot adequately express the pain that Rachel and her family are going through, and that pain can be seen on the faces of her Temple Lacrosse family as well. The outpouring of love and support that has been expressed for Rachel is a reflection of the fact that she is such an amazing person, a strong woman, and a selfless teammate. As her Temple Lacrosse family, right now, all we are focused on is seeing Rachel and her family get through this critical period and we are there to support in any way possible.” * news@temple-news.com T @TheTempleNews Steve Bohnel contributed reporting.

NEWS DESK 215-204-7419

One year ago, Ray Smeriglio and his ticket, consisting of Blair Alston and Julia Crusor, were inaugurated as the next student body president and vice presidents for services and external affairs for Temple Student Government. On April 27, the nowformer student body president and his executive cabinet found themselves on the other side of the process as the three attended their last TSG student body meeting in their current roles, as the new TSG administration was inaugurated. Smeriglio reflected on his time as student body president. “I feel a little nostalgic,” Smeriglio said. “I’m definitely going to miss this role. There is a lot of fun to be had. There’s a lot of conversations with administrators and students and you have the capability to influence how things go at Temple.” Crusor said that while the experience was tiring at times, it was well worth it. “I’ve been part of TSG for three years,” Crusor said. “It’s been very rewarding, extremely rewarding. I think most students value those relationships that we built.” Alston, the lone member of the team set to graduate this week, said that although he’s sad about his time ending at Temple, he’s excited for the next part of his life. “It’s pretty surreal, it’s very exciting, but it’s definitely bittersweet, just looking back at my experience at Temple,” Alston said. “But it’s also very exciting to go and start the next

chapter of my life, and have the opportunity to learn and grow some more.” When the three ran for office, they campaigned on the platform of improving dining halls, building security as well as expanding LGBTQ safezone training programs among other things. Smeriglio and Crusor admitted that while not everything the team set out to accomplish was completed, the key points were – like improving dining services at Morgan Hall by working with the national branch of Sodexo to increase traffic flow on the dining facility’s upper level. Yet perhaps the biggest success of their administration, they said, was TUnity, an initiative that calls for mutual respect among students regardless of differences. In early April, the initiative earned TSG the Student-Driven Program of the Year Award, given by The Association of College Unions International. The award goes to a program implemented by students that “represent standards of excellence in campus programming.” One of the key goals that the team said they would have liked to accomplish was their Social Media Committee initiative, in which social media managers from different student organizations would become a loose-base collective – if there was ever an emergency on campus, the organization’s managers would notify students of the situation. As their time in office was ending, the team waited to see who would become the executive officers of next year’s TSG. When he learned that Future TU had won the election to become TSG’s next senior leadership team, Smeriglio said he was “satisfied” with the outcome,

NEWS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM

HARRISON BRINK TTN

Blair Alston, vice president of services, is graduating this week.

and added that he is looking forward to what the new office will do. Crusor said that she would like to see the new administration expand on the diversity initiatives that the outgoing one had started. “I’m really excited to see what they do,” she said. “I would love to see them expand on diversity. I would love to see them bring something new to campus.” With their time as TSG executives finished, Smeriglio, Crusor and Alston plan to move to their next phase. Alston, who is graduating this spring, plans on going to law school in the next couple of years. Smeriglio and Crusor have plans on grad-

uating in the fall. Smeriglio said that he will look to take his experiences from TSG and go into high education where he said he plans to work in strategic marketing at a school like Temple, focusing on alumni involvement as well as perspective and current student involvement in campus life. “I would like to say ‘thank you’ to Temple and the student body for such a successful year,” Smeriglio said. “We definitely could not have done what we did without the support of the students and administrators.” * david.glovach@temple.edu T @DavidGlovach

NEWS

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

Charges altered in football players’ barroom assault case Dion Dawkins and Haason Reddick both had aggravated assault charges dropped at a April 29 preliminary hearing. STEVE BOHNEL Assistant News Editor Around 9:35 a.m. last Wednesday in a crowded courtroom at the Criminal Justice Center in Center City, senior Temple student Benjamin Wood began his testimony. On Jan. 18, the 21-yearold had his right orbital bone broken at Club 1800 in Northern Liberties – and now, he wanted Dion Dawkins and Haason Reddick punished for their involvement in his injury that night. But after 20 minutes, Judge Joyce Eubanks decided that Wood’s testimony – along with other evidence from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office – was not enough. She dropped the state’s aggravated assault charges against both Dawkins and Reddick, and dismissed all other charges against the latter. Court records show Dawkins still faces a simple assault charge. Dawkins and Reddick, both members of Temple’s football team, were arrested March 16 for their roles in January’s incident, and later suspended by the team. Because of the court’s decision, both players’ suspensions have temporarily been lifted, a university spokesman said. As of Monday night, both are listed on the team’s roster. At Wednesday’s preliminary hearing, Wood testified that he headed to Club 1800’s bathroom, near the back of the establishment, around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 18. When he left the bathroom, he said he had a clear line of sight to his friend Delonte Stancil – another 21-year-old Temple senior – who was getting stomped on by Reddick. After seeing this, Wood said, he went over to the scuffle and tried to pull Stancil up. He added that while doing this,

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After 31 years, Computer Services VP set to retire He will continue as a special assistant to the Provost. JOE BRANDT News Editor

COURTESY PHILADELPHIA POLICE

Dion Dawkins (left) and Haason Reddick were arrested March 16.

he got kicked in the back and shoulders about five times. As he was pulling Stancil up, Wood said he got kicked under his right eye, but couldn’t remember who kicked him. As he stood up, Wood added that he saw Dawkins charging toward him. Seconds later, the two engaged in a fight where he was punched more than 10 times, he said. When Wood was finished testifying, defense attorneys James Funt and Max Kramer told Eubanks that there was not enough evidence to charge either athlete with aggravated assault. District Attorney Jason Grenell retorted, saying that Reddick and Dawkins were directly responsible for the defendant’s injuries. “This was a beatdown,” Grenell told Eubanks. “The complainant was trying to help someone … [the fight] caused permanent damage, he’s got double vision. … Two people were stomping on Mr. Wood, and they’re sitting here in this courtroom today.” Grenell said after the hearing that even though Wood couldn’t confirm Reddick broke his orbital bone, definitive evidence wasn’t needed to proceed to trial. “The judge is supposed to give us any reasonable inference,” Grenell said. “It’s no mathematical certainty, but it

also doesn’t take much to think it’s the same guy [Reddick] who kicked Wood.” Grenell added that he plans to refile the case, which needs to be approved through the District Attorney’s Office and would take about three weeks. Funt, who is representing Dawkins, said he’s disappointed that the District Attorney’s Office is planning to refile. The 1994 Temple Law School graduate represented another current Temple football player, Praise Martin-Oguike, when he was facing rape charges that were later dropped in October 2013. “I think the involvement is once you do something beneficial for somebody, the word spreads,” Funt said of getting involved in Reddick and Dawkins’ case. “Praise’s was a case where he was factually absolutely innocent, and I met Mr. Dawkins and Mr. Reddick through Praise.” Funt added that even though Dawkins still faces a simple assault charge, there are several eyewitnesses that will testify that he was a “peacemaker,” and is confident that he will be acquitted. The 20-yearold’s trial is scheduled to begin May 22 at 10 a.m. * steven.bohnel@temple.edu T @Steve_Bohnel Andrew Parent contributed reporting.

Not long after graduating from Temple, Timothy O’Rourke got a job as a manager in the Johnson & Hardwick cafeteria. As a student living in Johnson Hall in the early 1970s, he worked in the cafeteria after he was appointed to do so at a floor meeting he missed. Recently, in the twilight of his tenure as the university’s chief information officer and vice president for Computer Services, he ran into a co-worker who still worked there. “She remembered me after all these years,” he said. O’Rourke, whose time is up after he enrolled in an earlyretirement plan years ago, will continue to serve as a special assistant to Provost Hai-Lung Dai and will be on Main Campus a few days a week, he said. “It’d be really hard to leave Temple since I’ve been here so long,” O’Rourke said. Under O’Rourke, Temple built the TECH Center, installed Wi-Fi on campus and simplified university computer systems. When he took over, different administrative functions used different systems, and several were around 20 years old. The youngest system, used for payroll, was 16 years old. Eventually he took on the project to install Self-Service Banner and TUPortal in order to consolidate the administrative computer systems at a cost of $38 million over five years. Those are still used today. He also led the shift to a uniform email system, since 11 were previously used among different departments, he said. The university now runs on Gmail. And Wi-Fi, which was not installed on Main Campus until 2002, was something the school needed in preparation for the

COURTESY TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

After serving as controller from 1984 to 2003, Timothy O’Rourke headed Computer Services until April of this year. He is retiring from that position but will continue as an assistant to Provost Hai-Lung Dai.

current state of affairs, he said. “Every student is using mobile technology now,” O’Rourke said. “How’s that for a change?” Marion Hansberry, director of operations for Computer

student “is Every using mobile

technology now. How’s that for a change?.

”

Timothy O’Rourke | VP, Computer Services

Services, has known O’Rourke since he hired her while serving as Controller. “I kind of grew up with him,” Hansberry said. “He’s taught me a lot. I learned finance from him. … I learned leadership skills.” They worked together for

31 years, as she followed him to the Computer Services office. “He’s a big presence, so it’s like he’s just taking a few days off,” Hansberry said. She believes the university’s technology has come a long way since the early days. “It’s sometimes not appreciated because that happens behind the scenes,” she said. “Nowadays, kids will expect that. But you have to do the work to get there.” O’Rourke’s wife lived in Hardwick Hall, and they have three children who all graduated from Temple. He said he has had some input in appointing his successor. Currently, Barbara Dolhansky is serving in an interim role and O’Rourke recommended her for the job. “I’ve kind of run out of ideas,” O’Rourke said. “I think technology moves too fast for one person to keep up with it for such a long period of time.” * jbrandt@temple.edu T @JBrandt_TU

NEWS IN BRIEF

JENNY KERRIGAN TTN

City crewmen gather near the collapsed building on 18th Street.

UNIVERSITY NEWS BOARD CHAIRMAN O’CONNOR’S LAW FIRM COMPLETES MERGER

Board of Trustees Chairman Patrick O’Connor’s Center City law firm seeks to expand its legal clout in the Midwest through an announced merger with a smaller Chicago law firm, the Inquirer reported. Cozen O’Connor’s current staff of 575 lawyers throughout the country will absorb 40 attorneys in Chicago and 15 in San Francisco, once the merger with Meckler Bulger Tilson is complete. MBT specializes in labor, insurance and white collar defense litigation, according to a press release. Cozen O’Connor has represented business and government interests in a wide range of cases. Bruce R. Meckler, the founder and co-chair

of MBT, offered praise for Cozen O’Connor, and said that the merger would allow MBT greater access to foreign markets. “Cozen O’Connor is one of the largest law firms in the country with an international platform and excellent reputation for client-service and results,” he said in a press release. He will serve on Cozen O’Connor’s board following the merger. O’Connor, the vice chairman at the firm partially bearing his name, graduated from Villanova’s School of Law in 1967. He first joined Temple’s Board of Trustees in 1971, and left for 17 years before returning in 2001. He was elected Chairman of the Board in 2009. -John Moritz

OFF-CAMPUS APARTMENT BUILDING MAY NOT HAVE BEEN INSPECTED

City records revealed that a brick building at 1806 W. Montgomery Ave. was built without required safety inspections or a building per-

mit, the Inquirer reported on April 25. The property is owned by 826 N. Broad L.L.C., according to city records. Shawn Bullard, a former Temple football player who is the sole member of the company, told the Inquirer that he disagreed with the city’s records. “I don’t know what to tell you, it was inspected,” he said. His lawyer, Laurence Mester, declined to comment to the Inquirer. When the Inquirer asked about the building more than two weeks ago, the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections told Bullard he had 35 days to obtain “a required certificate of occupancy, which attests that a property is in compliance with building codes and is safe for habitation.” If Bullard does not comply with this demand, L&I officials said the building would be shut down and the tenants, who are current students, would be forced to leave, the Inquirer reported. Several L&I inspectors told the Inquirer they were “appalled” that construction at 1806 W. Montgomery had been allowed to continue without required inspections. One inspector added that this lack of oversight could cause numerous problems in the future. “There are 100 ways to get hurt in an uninspected building,” the inspector told the Inquirer. “And that includes the firefighters who might be called there one day.” -Steve Bohnel

OFF-CAMPUS BUILDING COLLAPSES

A nearby off-campus building collapsed last Tuesday after it had been scheduled for demolition, philly.com reported. The property, located at 2020 N. 18th Street, collapsed around 10:55 a.m. last Tuesday, police said. It was deemed sealed/ structurally compromised, according to city records. Claire Ifft, a junior in the Fox School of Business and Management who lives next door, said the property had been abandoned all year, and that the brick front of the building fell off on April 22.

She added that the Department of Licenses and Inspections had started to tear down the building, and were supposed to send an engineer to inspect it. The building then partially collapsed into her property on April 28, where her and four others live, she said. -Jenny Kerrigan

CRIME THREE ROBBERIES ROUND OUT WEEK

Temple and Philadelphia police are still searching for suspects in multiple robberies last week, two of which involved a student’s residence in the 1500 block of 13th Street. The first robbery occurred Wednesday night around 10 p.m., when $5,000 and a quarter pound of marijuana were stolen from a property on 13th Street between Jefferson and Oxford streets, Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said. A TU Alert was sent out about the robbery at around 11 p.m. In a more recent incident, the same property was robbed at around 1 a.m. on Saturday. Both Temple and Philadelphia police are still searching for the five male suspects involved – one of whom who was armed with a gun. Leone said both robberies are believed to be drug-related. A TU Alert was sent out about this incident at around 1 a.m. In a separate case on Friday at around 11 p.m., a student was robbed at 18th Street and Montgomery Avenue. A TU Alert was sent out around half an hour later. Four males approached the student, one of whom displayed a gun, Leone said. An iPhone and cash were taken from the student before the suspects fled north on 18th Street from Montgomery Avenue. No injuries were reported in any of the cases. Anybody with information about any of the incidents is encouraged to call Campus Safety Services at 215-204-1234. -Lian Parsons

PAGE 4 A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921. Avery Maehrer, Editor-in-Chief Patricia Madej, Managing Editor Erin Edinger-Turoff, Chief Copy Editor Joe Brandt, News Editor Paige Gross, Opinion Editor Claire Sasko, Lifestyle Editor Emily Rolen, Arts & Entertainment Editor EJ Smith, Sports Editor Steve Bohnel, Asst. News Editor Andrew Parent, Asst. Sports Editor Alexa Bricker, Asst. Lifestyle Editor Albert Hong, Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor Patrick McCarthy, Multimedia Editor Kate Reilly, Asst. Multimedia Editor

EDITORIAL/OP-ED

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

FROM THE ARCHIVES...

Harsh Patel, Web Manager Tom Dougherty, Web Editor Kara Milstein, Photography Editor Jenny Kerrigan, Asst. Photography Editor Addy Peterson, Design Editor Donna Fanelle, Asst. Designer Justin Discigil, Advertising Manager Grayson Holladay, Business Manager Dustin Wingate, Marketing Manager

The Temple News is an editorially independent weekly publication serving the Temple University community. Unsigned editorial content represents the opinion of The Temple News. Adjacent commentary is reflective of their authors, not The Temple News. Visit us online at temple-news.com. Send submissions to letters@temple-news.com. The Temple News is located at: Student Center, Room 243 1755 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122

EDITORIAL

Our silent president Why President Theobald ignoring student journalists is a problem for the university community. We are proud today to publish our annual special project, found on Page C1, which this year focuses on campus safety. In it, you’ll read about what makes Temple different from other schools – why crime is such a prevalent topic here and what methods the university implements to protect us. There are several voices in the story, including those of Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone, Captain of Special Services Eileen Bradley and 22nd District Captain Robert Glenn, among many others. Every Temple official we asked for an interview was willing to talk to us – with one exception. We formally requested an interview with President Theobald in early February, when we were in the very early stages of our reporting. He had just done an interview for a lengthy

headline, “Two years in, Temple’s president getting ‘A’s” – included details of how Board of Trustees Chairman Patrick O’Connor expressed a desire for Theobald to “adopt a more public persona.” Of course, it’s not surprising that the president’s office would have an interest in Theobald speaking with the Inquirer – which holds a larger audience than ours and is also owned by H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, a member of Temple’s Board of Trustees. But for what possible reason would the university deny its student newspaper a request – one made with several months’ notice – to interview Theobald? Perhaps it’s because we might press him about last year’s controversial athletic cuts. Perhaps it’s because we could bring up the lengthy exposé we published last fall that unveiled a years-long pattern

June 18, 1965: Fifty years ago, 2,139 graduates made up the 79th and largest class in the history of the university up to that point. Rev. Theodore Hesburgh spoke on moral human equality in the middle of a year filled with notable civil rights events. The 2015 class will graduate on May 8 at 10 a.m. Kevin Negandhi, an ESPN SportsCenter anchor and Temple alumnus will speak at the ceremony.

commentary | crime

Crime a part of city dwelling Living near a university known for its crime introduces real-world experience and smarts.

T TTN FILE PHOTO

front-page story in the Inquirer, and he has done sit-down interviews with The Temple News as recently as Fall 2013, so a 30-minute discussion did not seem out of the ordinary. We even extended an invitation for him to join us on a ride-along with Temple Police. We followed on numerous occassions – making clear that we wanted to talk to Theobald about the special project and other topics affecting the university community. Finally, on April 17, we received our answer from a university spokesperson: “Unfortunately, he’s not going to be able to do this. Thank you for the offer.” In other words, Theobald is not willing to extend the same time to student journalists at his own school that he is to the Inquirer. It’s disheartening to hear, especially when the Inquirer story that we’re referring to – which ran with the

of abuse and neglect in the university’s track & field program. Perhaps it’s because we would have the opportunity to ask him about other contentious issues, like the exit of professor Anthony Monteiro, Title IX investigations, campus crime or the Bill Cosby scandal. Make no mistake, though, we would have discussed much more than just these hot-button topics. There is plenty to celebrate here at Temple, and we would love nothing more than to hear Theobald’s thoughts of what the future holds for Main Campus. We do our best to report on Temple-related issues with integrity and fairness, all in an effort to serve in the best interest of the university community. But it’s very difficult to fully garner both sides of a story, when our president won’t even talk to us.

CORRECTIONS The Temple News strives to be a newspaper of record by printing factually correct and balanced articles. Accuracy is our business, so when a mistake is made, we’ll correct it as soon as possible. Anyone with inquiries about content in this newspaper can contact Editor-in-Chief Avery Maehrer at editor@temple-news.com or 215.204.6737.

he text message on that Thursday night ended with, “Cool if we have a party in the basement tonight?” Living on Park Avenue comes with the notorious reputation of always partying. The pseudo cul-de-sac near the north side of Main Campus always has an endless pool of kids occupying porches. “Sure that’s fine,” I lied in response. I sat quietly in contempt on the carpet of our first floor apartment as it began to vibrate PATRICK MCCARTHY along to the beat. This wasn’t the first time I’ve dealt with an unruly party. I barely noticed the small cloud of weed smoke pouring through the vents and the occasional jiggle of our apartment door at this point. “Let’s unlock it,” I joked to my roommate. “Maybe we can meet some new friends.” He packed up his things and went to his bedroom, his patience running thin. The scuffle started in the hallway. I heard people shoving each other out of the

I slowed down “when the first shot rang out. ”

house, vibrating my collection of empty beer bottles on the opposite side of the paper-thin walls. I remember feeling the big stupid grin on my face forming as I tiptoed to my window, hoping for a front-row seat to the expected fist fight on my porch. I slowed down when the first shot rang out. Was that a gun? The rush of adrenaline kept me moving toward the blinds. A man was standing on my porch, aiming his gun down the street. The silhouette was illuminated for a brief second when he pulled the trigger again.

I ran for my phone. Terror was quickly replaced with anger when a busy signal answered my 911 call. By the time I tried to redial it, the normal orange glow of streetlights were replaced by red and blue strobes. The police removed everyone from the house, including my sleep-deprived shell of a roommate. He mumbled profanity under his breath as the offending residents began posing for a Snapchat in front of the line of police cruisers. About nine of us were escorted to the 9th District precinct for individual testimonies, including the friend of the nowidentified victim. Each of us talked to the investigators that were working at 3 a.m. We developed symptoms of Stockholm syndrome as we tried to make the best of our situation, despite our guess that we wouldn’t leave until dawn. My last bit of energy was spent as the shock of four somber people filed through the door into the hallway we were occupying. They stared straight back at us with clenched knuckles and pursed lips. Blood stained their shoes, shirts, pants and hands. They recounted the story of carrying their friend to the Rite Aid and told us how the victim kept explaining he was tired and that he just wanted to lay down. Midway through telling my version of the story, an officer placed a small plastic jar on a counter near me. Inside was a hunk of shredded metal. “The kid was shooting a cannon,” the officer said shaking the bullet. “It missed his heart by a few millimeters. He should be fine.” What sounded like a simple exaggeration set off a series of thoughts in my head. What if he turned to the window and saw me? What if it ricocheted? What if he shot inside my house? What if I got shot? I’ve been punched in the head once. I’ve walked up to the smashed remains of a car window and the hole left from the now-missing radio. I’ve seen street signs ripped out of the ground. I’ve confronted a man attempting to steal my bike – then watched him walk off defeated into his house across the street. Yet nothing prepared me for witnessing gun violence so close to where I rest my head at night. It’s a jarring experience to have your home end up as the main story for the evening news. It’s even worse when your parents watch it.

So why are students still flocking from the safety of the suburbs, or the bubble of other state schools, to endure one of the most dangerous cities in America? Is a Temple education worth the constant whiplash of crime looming over our heads? In this issue, we publish a special project that dives into crime on and off campus. Executive Director of Campus Safety Services, Charlie Leone, acknowl-

In a strange way, “living in the same

house for three years has instilled in me a sense of security.

”

edged the dynamic between students and and long-term residents. “You have a culture that wants to go to bed at 5 a.m. That’s students,” he told The Temple News for the project. “And you have another culture that’s getting up at 5 a.m. to go to work.” This difference in lifestyle, as we heard from many students and community members, can lead to tension and crime. In a strange way, living in the same house for three years has instilled in me a sense of security, despite almost every person I know at Temple having been exposed to crime in some degree. The bottom line of a college experience is to learn how the real world works. There can be a lot of frustration when you wait on hold to report a crime, but coping with these experiences is not covered in the tuition. However, the lining is silver and invaluable. I’m not suddenly less materialistic because I assume everything I own will soon get stolen, but I feel better equipped here than other schools that offered me admission. I don’t live in a bubble where crime simply doesn’t happen or that it can’t happen to me. I abandoned that privilege when I chose to attend this school. *patrick.mccarthy@temple.edu

OPINION

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

commentary | media history

PAGE 5

commentary

Parallels found in newsprint My last days as a watchdog The years of documented news archives show similarities between history and present-day events.

ife today doesn’t seem too different than in 1938. I found this to be true sitting cross-legged on the floor of the time portal that is the archive room in The Temple News’ office. Scanning the pages for links to what is happening this week is a challenge but also one of the coolest parts of my job. The red-bound book documenting the 1938 “Temple University News” hosts yellowed pages with flaky edges and tiny print. That May, Jesse Rosen, a “black-eyed, PAIGE GROSS brunette, petite,” senior who served on student council was asked about her plans for marriage, favorite weekend activities and was noted for loving “pastel colored dresses.” The men profiled were asked about their extracurriculars and future professional plans. I can’t help but think about Cecily Strong telling the various media outlets at last month’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner to “solemnly swear not to talk about Hillary’s appearance,” during her presidential campaign, “because that is not journalism.” Strong’s pleas to the media, while part of her comedic routine, feel like they

learn from the way mediums have adapted and what has happened to those that have not. “One of my favorite parts of old journalism is realizing how familiar it seems,” she said. She explained that our understanding about events that we were not in attendance for, but play huge roles in our live – like the civil rights movement – come from journalism. We have the images of the Edmund Pettus Bridge being crossed and police hosing down protesters and iconic speeches ingrained into our heads

demonstration, “Philadelphia is Baltimore,” with hundreds of stories of marches, sit-ins and protests participated in by students and Philadelphians alike. Fifty years ago, in March of 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a march that would be later known as “Bloody Sunday.” For the last nine months, the chant “Black lives matter” has narrated much of the media cycle. Sometimes I get a little selfish in my searching. The year my grandparents got married, the university was handling issues

because journalists were there to capture those moments. “We take those images for granted,” Kitch said. “We think, ‘Oh, they’re just in our minds’ – no, they were in the news.” I returned from the interview and sat in the archives for hours. There’s a lot to learn from the 83 years that are documented in that room. The oldest edition we have on file, 1932, is missing the back cover to its book and is so torn and disheveled I can barely make out a headline. Years following are in better condi-

following desegregation at an elementary school in Little Rock, Arkansas. When my parents were born, draft tests were sent out to students in efforts to get them to join the war. The day I was born the food trucks at “The Wall” became permanent fixtures made of concrete and decked out in cherry and white. Not everything is the same, though. I’ve flipped through papers with advertisements for the day care that once existed on Main Campus to accomodate those students already married with children. Jewelers tried to sell the idea of “the one” and the ring to adorn them with, in between news articles and feature stories. More and more students came to the university. The size of Main Campus and the space around it expanded. Students filed into hundred-year old houses while the campus buildings grew upward and dorms became delegated to freshmen. In 1987, West Columbia Avenue was

It is hard not to notice some parallels “ between these old editions and in my own two years here. ”

tion, especially in 1967 when we started storing the print copies in rows and rows of filing cabinets. The style of the masthead and even the name “Temple University News” has changed, but there are similarities scattered through the years. It is hard not to notice some parallels between these old editions and in my own two years here. I can match last week’s

belong in the crumbling pages of that 1938 publication. A few months ago, I talked to Carolyn Kitch, a journalism professor who took over the department as chair this semester. In a time when so many people are obsessed with predicting a successful future for journalism, she dedicates her research and teaching to the history of journalism. “Isn’t that tricky?” I asked her. She explained that there is so much to

changed to Cecil B. Moore Avenue to honor the late civil rights attorney that helped shape the community, and the university expanded south to meet it. I do sometimes sit in my classes and wonder how my job as a journalist will differ from those who wrote for this paper in the 94 years that it has existed. Kitch assured me in our conversation that the need for journalism will not go away. Telling stories and representing communities has always and will always be the goal of newspapers – no matter what form they may take. As I stress about being halfway done with my college career and producing the last issue of my first year as an editor for this publication, I take comfort in knowing that there are people that care so much about the many, many issues ahead. The proof is in the tiny print and redbounded books with flaky pages. * paige.gross1@temple.edu T @By_paigegross

LETTER TO THE EDITOR... Newspapers are important for informing and representing communities. After reviewing for some time the work of The Temple News, I must say congratulations are in order. As a fellow college reporter, I find that the quality of the pieces, the visual aspect of the paper and the dynamic online presence blurs the line between graduates and non graduates. I had the pleasant opportunity to sneak into one of your weekly meetings and speak with the team behind TTN. In that small meeting room I found energy, youth and an unquenchable thirst for good content. No less could I have expected from the people who make TTN possible. Compliments aside, given the opportunity to extend this letter to the editor and his team, my suggestion as a frequent reader is perhaps to expand that accurate perspective to a broader scope. I extend this invitation to you because of the endless possibilities a college newspaper can have in shaping public opinion, not just in local issues, but global ones as well. Mind you, I'm not encouraging the disregard of “smaller issues,” such as cam-

pus food or sidewalks. It is imperative that these topics remain at the heart of a college newspaper in order for it to properly serve its community. However, global issues have the potential to expand a student's mind and help them gain perspective. I allow myself to suggest a piece on the situation that currently engulfs my homeland, Venezuela, on the field of liberty of press (or lack thereof). To be a journalist in Venezuela is even more dangerous than being a window washer on the Empire State building. At least in that job there’s a harness to secure you. The Press and Society Institute, a Venezuelan ONG, has tallied some 1,650 violations to freedom of the press and the murder of seven press workers since 2005. Threats, extortion and government pressure are very common for any media outlet that critiques the government. I myself have received direct threats for the content I've published about the state of the country. Even as I sit down to write these lines, two colleagues were verbally abused at a press conference for the ruling party. Since 2013, 11 print newspapers have gone out of circulation and 34 others have had difficulties accessing paper because

OPINION DESK 215-204-7416

of government regulations. In a country with a deepening scarcity of basic goods like milk and toilet paper, you would think reading the local journal would be the least of the country's problems. However, it is quite the opposite. Being informed means hope, it means life and belonging. May you continue your duties next semester with that spirit in mind. Roberto Torres is a journalist for LUZ Periódico, the oldest college newspaper in Venezuela, published by the University of Zulia.

GOT SOMETHING TO SAY? Visit temple-news.com/polls to take our online poll, or send your comments to letters@temple-news. com. Letters to the editor may regard any current issue but must include your full name, position and location. Students can give year and major.

LETTERS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM

After four years spent working for The Temple News, our editor-in-chief says goodbye.

sold my soul to The Temple News three years ago during a game of miniature golf on the Jersey Shore. It was a warm, summer evening and my friends and I were spending the night on Wildwood’s boardwalk. I was feeling good – I had finished my first year of college, received a raise at my ice cream-scooping job at Friendly’s and was named the cross country beat writer of this very newspaper. My focus shifted around the ninth hole, though, when I checked my Twitter feed and discovered that Temple’s cross country coach had announced his resignation. I contacted the sports editor, Joey Cranney, whose response was simple: Get on it. So I did. I left that game of miniature golf AVERY MAEHRER and spent the next 24 hours talking to the coach and players, gathering statistics and putting together a draft for publication. I remember sitting in the front seat of our parked minivan, my MacBook resting on my lap as I paged through my reporter’s notebook. I finished the story and sent it in, hoping for the best. Later that day, a text rolled in: “Great f---ing reporting. That’s what I’m talking about.” I was alone in a small beach shack, as my family lounged by the ocean, but that one little text gave me the biggest boost of confidence imaginable. I remember my mom walking through the front door as I jumped to show her my phone. “Look what my editor said about my article!” I told her. An athletic department spokesperson would later yell at me for talking to athletes without his permission, but I got the story and that’s what mattered. Years later, I often still think back about that moment in my career – when a young journalist treated his seemingly insignificant beat as seriously as if he were covering the Phillies or Eagles. But right now, as I write my final piece for The Temple

I will miss the rush that runs “through me every Tuesday

”

morning when I pick up a freshly printed issue. News, thinking of it only makes me realize how much I’m going to miss this place. I will miss the rush that runs through me every Tuesday morning when I pick up a freshly printed issue. I will miss the feeling of being a “watchdog” for the university community. And I will miss walking around Main Campus seeing you, the reader, with a newspaper in your hands. But above all else, I will miss the people I have met through this job. They are my friends as much as they are my colleagues and my family as much as they are my staff. In truth, I have been putting off this column for the longest time. It’s now the day before print, all of our stories are filed and I still haven’t finished. It’s not that I’m not ready to say goodbye – I am. It’s not that I don’t know how I should say goodbye – I do. It’s that “goodbye” is not an easy word to say. J.M. Barrie wrote in “Peter Pan” that “goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” The line is corny, but also piercingly accurate. For me and so many other Temple students graduating this week, we face the bittersweet reality that college – the best years of our lives spent with the best friends of our lives – is coming to an end. For me, college was The Temple News. I learned more here than I ever could in a classroom, and the people here inspired me in ways my professors never could. I spent so many evenings in our newsroom like this one: energized almost entirely by Coke Zero, candy bars and the approach of a deadline. I know the memories of my time here will fade, and inevitably, the friendships, too. What won’t fade, though, are the stories we told – 29 issues chock-full of them. They will be neatly folded and stored in the archives of this office, to be discovered some day by a future generation of young journalists. Those students will probably remember us, Volume 93, for stories like the death of beloved trustee Lewis Katz, the Bill Cosby scandal and the investigation of an abusive track & field coach. Surely, I will remember us for these stories, too. But, do you know what I’ll also remember? I will remember our multimedia editor for being both the ultimate voice of reason and the office goofball. I’ll remember the sounds of our chief copy editor belching through a production day and our managing editor cracking her fingers when she gets too stressed. I’ll remember the features editors for their contagious giggles, our sports guys for their strong affinity for Mexican takeout, our news team for never quitting when the job gets tough and all the others – the ones who stuck with me until the very end. I’ll also remember this: On a recent Wednesday afternoon, one of our talented freshmen sports reporters crept into my office after a section meeting. He shook my hand, told me he admired my work and described how much he has enjoyed writing for our newspaper. He also asked for some feedback. To that writer, our many other gifted reporters and my inexplicably wonderful staff, I really only have one thing left to say. Great f---ing reporting. That’s what I’m talking about. * avery.maehrer@temple.edu T @AveryMaehrer

lifestyle ‘GOING HOME WON’T BE THE SAME’ After hearing news of the earthquake in their home country, several Nepali students are raising money to fund relief efforts. ONLINE

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

The Temple News asked several students what they are planning to do this summer. PAGE 8

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HARRISON BRINK TTN

Senior Christopher Sohnly strolls through the Ambler Arboretum on May 1. Sohnly helped to build trails for the Gheel House, a therapeutic living community located near Frech Creek State Park.

THE HEALING TRAIL Graduating senior Christopher Sohnly created a trail system along French Creek for residents of a therapeutic community.

ALEXA BRICKER Assistant Lifestyle Editor

From 2006-09, Christopher Sohnly worked as a special projects landscaper for Gheel House, a residential mental health community located along French Creek. Sohnly worked to clear a trail system that residents could use to walk the grounds, but when he returned in 2011, he saw that the trail systems had become unkempt, overgrown and no longer usable. With encouragement from some of his mentors, professors Susan Mrugal and Eva

Monheim, he decided he had to go back, not only to fix the trails, but to ensure that current and future residents would be able to enjoy them down the road. “I had a friend of mine who was a Diamond Scholar in 2013, but I never for the life of me thought I would get it,” said Sohnly, a graduating senior in the department of landscape architecture and horticulture. In 2014, Sohnly was awarded a $4,000 Diamond Scholarship, which has since allowed him to begin the process of reopening the trails to the residents and staff at Gheel

SOHNLY PAGE 8

Senior gains love for sport after internship with baseball team Baseball “ has one of the Kenny Yansen landed an internship with a minor league team. JANE BABIAN The Temple News Before this semester, Kenny Yansen wasn’t a baseball fan. But after working for the Lakeland Flying Tigers, a minor league team owned by the Detroit Tigers, the senior sports recreation management major said he’s “100 percent a baseball fan.” The graduating sports and recreation management major relocated to Lakeland, Florida this past semester to intern for the team, and he said he’ll keep working there until September. On weekdays, Yansen serves as a corporate sales intern and sells sponsorship deals to local-business prospects who want to advertise their brand in

the team’s stadium. But on game days, he takes on a different duty. “I’m the audio person,” Yansen said of his responsibility on game day. “I’m in control of the music.” He plays all the stadium’s sound effects, including the music the players walk onto the field to, as well as batting practice music, and controls the volume levels of the microphones. Last April, Yansen attended an MLB Diversity Business Summit in New York, held by Major League Baseball. The event “brings in all teams, affilates, MLB.com and the MLB Network,” Yansen said. He said he went because, despite the fact he wasn’t a baseball fan, he “wasn’t going to limit himself to only the sports he watched on television.” “Baseball has one of the best business operations of the Big Four,” Yansen said. “I was

best business operations of the Big Four. I was not going to pass up on that amazing opportunity... Kenny Yansen | senior

EMILY DUBIN TTN

Senior Erika Koiva has wanted to live in New York City since a very young age.

” A dream to live in the ‘Big Apple’

not going to pass up on that amazing opportunity because I didn’t watch it on TV.” Yansen said the Tigers emailed him details on the application process, and by December, he learned he was accepted. Because Yansen grew up

YANSEN PAGE 8

After graduation, Erika Koiva will work at Ogilvy & Mather. EMILY SCOTT The Temple News

Erika Koiva said she always knew she wanted to live in New York. As a senior advertising major with a digital media and technologies minor, Koiva said she wanted to work in the city because it is

known as the capital of advertising. Throughout her time at Temple, Koiva wanted to make sure New York was the right place for her to land her first full-time, professional job. She decided to join the School of Media and Communication’s study away program in New York City. While in New York, Koiva took two courses taught by the SMC’s director of undergraduate studies, Scott Gratson. The classes fo-

KOIVA PAGE 7

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Breaking ground on a sustainable future Throughout her time at Temple, senior Katy Ament has been heavily involved in many environmentallyfriendly organizations. VINCE BELLINO The Temple News Katy Ament has always been involved with sustainability at Temple. Now a graduating senior, she has organized Campus Sustainability Week, co-founded The Rad Dish Co-Op and became the first to finish a sustainable food systems minor. Ament, a senior environmental studies major, was introduced to sustainability programs on Main Campus when she signed up to work with the Temple Community Garden during her freshman year. She eventually became president of TCG, serving between her junior and senior years. Eva Monheim, faculty adviser for the Community Garden and one of Ament’s professors, said Ament is dedicated to helping advance student activities. “She’s a fantastic student,” Monheim said. “She’s just an over the top advocate with everything.” That summer, Ament finished an internship with Nice Roots Farm, a farm located at 2901 W. Hunting Park Ave. that provides local produce and teaches urban growing techniques. In her sophomore year, Ament applied to work for the Office of Sustainability at Temple. She was hired on as the outreach assistant and has served the role for the last three years. Ament’s role as the outreach assistant included coordinating monthly events to promote sustainability and working with Temple’s Green Council. The Green Council is an “eco-friendly coalition of student organizations that meets monthly to discuss sustainability initiatives on campus,” according to its website.

As the outreach assistant, Ament also planned Campus Sustainability Week, which takes place once per semester. She planned the last three events, organizing multiple events each day to promote on-campus sustainability. “You could just tell she had a lot of potential,” Kathleen Grady, director of the Office of Sustainability, said. “There was really no end to what she’s capable of doing.” “My goal with these, with both Green Council and Sustainability Week events, was to try to start engaging a new crowd, people who weren’t already involved,” Ament said. Ament’s final large contribution to sustainability at Temple is The Rad Dish Co-Op. A member of the crew that launched the co-op promoting local and humanely raised products, Ament wrote the sourcing policy. Rad Dish’s sourcing plan outlines the organization’s policies for the ingredients it uses, making sure they are local, ecologically sound and grown and are produced in accordance with Fair Trade policies. This means all ingredients used at the café are locally sourced, produced humanely with minimal chemical input and produced by workers earning a fair wage in fair conditions. “I’m so happy that we’re able to turn this into a reality in just two years,” Ament said. Ament’s sustainable food systems minor examines how food is produced and how it affects the systems around it. While studying food systems, Ament submitted her research and work on the effects of food hubs in communities to the Library Prize for

It’s been a really rewarding process. Not “only to do this research ... but have the opportunity to share it... ” Katy Ament | senior

Ament’s work with the Green Council gave the organizations the ability to work together more cohesively and advocate for causes important to them by planning events to raise awareness. “They really helped build the sustainability movement into what it is now on campus,” Ament said.

Undergraduate Research in Sustainability and the Environment, for which she was awarded first place. She also presented her work at the Critical Geography Conference hosted at Temple, alongside various other events, which allowed her to receive feedback and better develop her ideas

Continued from page 6

KOIVA

cused on communities and institutions in the city. “The communities course particularly looked at physical neighborhoods and how people create and function as a community,” Gratson said. Because the courses were on Saturdays, Koiva had time during the week for an internship with MRY, a creative technology agency. “The second that we were in New York, there was this huge grin on her face,” Gratson said. This September, Koiva will start a one-year program with Ogilvy & Mather, one of the largest agencies in the world, located in New York. Koiva said she has known about Ogilvy & Mather since she was a freshman. Earlier in the spring semester, the Career Center hosted a job opportunity for the rotational program called the Associate’s Program at Ogilvy & Mather. The last round of interviewing involved an event called “Super Saturday” in mid-March, during which the organization assesses future employees’ abilities, Koiva said. There were group and individual assessments as well as “out-of-the-blue pitches,” which made the event “intense,” she said. Koiva received the phone call about the job offer the following Monday after the weekend event. The job includes three rotations, which are each four months long. Koiva will work in both client services and strategy. “It’s almost like a mini grad school, except I am getting paid,” Koiva said. She said she is excited to get to work in strategy since she has yet to have an internship in that position. After one year, the company will likely place her in a permanent position as long as they have the resources, she said. “The whole point is that you’re more likely to

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ALEX FRIEND TTN

Senior environmental studies major Katy Ament touches a newly-sprouted plant.

before completing the minor. “It’s been a really rewarding process,” Ament said. “Not only to do this research … but have the opportunities to share it with a lot of people on campus.” After graduation, Ament will intern with Burpee Seed Company, where she will research trial seeds and plants. Ament said after her internship she is interested in getting an apprenticeship in farming to see if she is “cut out for the physical labor,” but she is also interested in working in food systems planning at the regional level. Eventually, Ament said she dreams of opening her own food center that would be a combination urban farm, apothecary and learning space. “It would be like a production center that doubles as an education center,” Ament said. * vince.bellino@temple.edu ALEX FRIEND TTN

Senior Katy Ament waters plants in the Temple Community Garden.

get placed where you think you really fit best and where you want to be,” Koiva said. Koiva always knew she wanted to do something creative, but she said she also wanted to incorporate elements of business into her work. “I knew I wanted something creative and business-y, and my mom introduced me to the idea of advertising,” the Connecticut native said. Koiva said she was introduced to Temple’s advertising program through one of the university’s accepted student days. “We had a little listen-in workshop, and it was all about the tracks, and they talked about the art-direction track,” Koiva said. “I was like, ‘Wow, that is exactly what I want to do.’” Koiva first became familiar with graphic design in high school. She took an independent study seminar in which her and two other students worked for a block period with one teacher. “I loved the idea of being creative without having to be a painting artist,” Koiva said. In the first two years of the program, advertising students don’t take as many courses in their specific track and most are business-oriented, Koiva said. Although she did stick with the art track, Koiva knew she became more interested in the business side of advertising when she was “naturally excelling” with the coursework. “The business side is still very creative in many ways,” Koiva said. “I stuck with the track because I knew it was good to have a very wide variety of skills, and I think it has helped me be unique, that I want to do more of the account management, client services side with that design background.” Koiva is vice president of Temple Ad Club and said being involved with the club since her freshman year has taught her more than what she would have learned from a traditional classroom experience alone. “It was really good to have a group of kids to look up to and network with, and I learned a lot

from them,” Koiva said. Koiva also worked with Diamond Edge Communications, which gave her a chance to learn the design tools earlier on in her education. She was also able to work in teams with art directors, copywriters and an account manager, which is a lot like the “real world” of advertising, Koiva said. The club would also go on agency crawls, both in Philadelphia and New York City. When she visited the New York agencies, it “ignited this ADVERTISEMENT

LIFESTYLE@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM

little obsessive fire” to live in the city. Before starting her job, Koiva said she is going to spend time at home in Connecticut with her family. She currently has an internship with Temple’s College of Public Health in its marketing department and plans to freelance for the college over the summer. Her job with Ogilvy & Mather starts on Sept. 8 – the day before her birthday. * emily.ivy.scott@temple.edu

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TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

Through internship, a love of baseball Continued from page 6

YANSEN

in Easton, Pennsylvania, which is just an hour away from Temple, he said he wasn’t too prepared for his “next big move.” “It was hard because I got the internship and two weeks later I had to move to Florida,” Yansen said.

knew that I was going “toIget a good education and a network to work with because of all the great professors... Kenny Yansen | senior

”

He’d only been to Florida for vacation and hadn’t lived that far from home before. “It was tough in the beginning coming to a new place and not knowing anyone,” he said. Yansen said he’d never thought about switching his major at Temple. “I knew that I was going to get a good education and a network to work with because

of all of the great professors I heard about and the resources that would be available to me,” Yansen said. During his undergraduate years at Temple, Yansen co-founded the Sport and Governance Association, also known as Temple SAGA. SAGA is “dedicated to students that want to go into the law and governance in the sports industry,” Yansen said. He said the organization has planned trips to the National Football League Players Association headquarters in Washington and brought in Leon Rose, a highly recognized sports agent, as a guest speaker at an event. Yansen said he believes the student organization will still run strong even though all of the co-founders graduate this May. “We’ll be friends forever,” Yansen said, “no matter how cliche that sounds.” After his internship in Lakeland, Yansen hopes to find a job in New York. Yansen said he’ll still root for the Tigers after September. “I’m honestly a baseball fan now,” Yansen said. “We’ll see what happens come midsummer.” * jane.babian@temple.edu

COURTESY KENNY YANSEN

Senior Kenny Yansen sits in the dugout of the Detriot Flying Tigers.

Senior uses scholarship to build a Gheel House trail Continued from page 6

SOHNLY

HARRISON BRINK TTN

Senior Christopher Sohnly walks through a greenhouse.

House, but also to carefully document all of the ecosystems and buildings on the site. “The whole idea [is to] document everything that is on the site and how it should be managed,” he said. “What problems there are, what strengths there are and what needs to be done to maintain them.” Sohnly said Gheel House lies on very distinct topography in that the property has areas of both wetland and dry meadow, making it even more important to record and understand the landscape. More important still, Sohnly said, is understanding the needs of Gheel House residents in creating an outdoor space where they can feel comfortable interacting with nature. “It opens the doors for healing,” Sohnly said, of the resident’s access to the trails. “I know, for me, if I’m stressed to be able to go outside and see a bird or a plant – they call it positive distraction. I can only imagine what [it does] for these folks.” Though Sohnly said he has not conducted any interviews with residents, through everyday interactions he has been able to see how the work he is doing is positively affecting them. One resident, he said, was apprehensive when she found out

Sohnly would be clearing some of the land to make room for the trails. But when she found out he would also be fixing up the goat house that lies on the property, she was thrilled. “A week after we fixed up the [goat house] she came up to me and said, ‘Thank you for doing this work and for taking care of the goats,’” Sohnly said. “When I

More and more “ research is coming

out saying [all people], let alone those with mental [illness] can benefit from a green space.

”

Eva Monheim | professor

told the [doctors] about that they said that was huge. That she could connect to reality like that.” Some of the residents, Sohnly said, especially those suffering from Schizophrenia, have a hard time connecting to the reality that most individuals experience. Though he said it is still important for him to talk with them and

for them be an integral part of the restoration process. In the future, Sohnly said he would like to be able to bring on a horticultural therapist and other experts to figure out how to better shape the environment into a center for relaxation and healing. “More and more research is coming out saying [all people], let alone those with mental [illness], can benefit from green space,” said Eva Monheim, Sohnly’s mentor and a professor in the department of landscape architecture and horticulture. “It’s calming for the nerves and the mental well-being is measurable.” The possibilities are endless, Sohnly said, in terms of how the residents and staff can interact with the trails and the environment. As of now he is still brainstorming and working to document the landscape so that future contractors will be able to keep in line with his original mission for the property. “What’s important is that [I] do something so that whatever happens they will have documentation to carry the project forward,” Sohnly said. “[The residents] live there, some of them for years at a time, and they have this beautiful property, and it’s not accessible to them. So that’s what this whole project is about – making it accessible.” * abricke1@temple.edu

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

“What are your plans for this summer?” ALEXA BRICKER & CLAIRE SASKO TTN

“I’m leaving on [May 15] to go on a seven-day cruise to the Bahamas. I go with my whole family.”

SUNETRA CHOUDHURY

FRESHMAN | UNDECLARED

“This summer, I’ll be working at the Student Center as building manager.”

PETER ROWE

SENIOR | ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

“I’ll probably just be working all summer at a company in Exton called WorkplaceDynamics.”

ZACH LEAMAN

SENIOR | COMPUTER SCIENCE & MATH

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

PAGE 9

FROM MED TO ED,

ALWAYS CHARGING FORWARD Lydia Fehintola Lawson always dreamed of changing someone’s life, and she expected to do it by studying medicine and becoming a doctor. But after spending a semester teaching her peers, she realized that lives are impacted through education every single day. Although she now aspires to work for the U.S. Department of Education, her dream—being a positive force in the lives of others—has not dwindled. All she needs is a place to make it happen. She’ll enlighten the world someday. Don’t be left in the dark.

LYDIA FEHINTOLA LAWSON ’15 BIOLOGY

HIRE AN OWL FIND LYDIA AND OTHERS AT TEMPLE.EDU / TAKECHARGE

PAGE 10

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TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

PAGE 11

Bill, Congratulations on your graduation from Temple University! Your hard work and dedication have paid off once again. You began your adventure at Temple with very specific goals, and you have achieved all you set out to do. You have much to offer - the world is waiting! Love, Mom & Dad

Congratulations to our Student Center Operations graduates!

CONGRATS

Thank you for all you have done for the Howard Gittis Student Center and Student Faculty Center and best of luck with all your future endeavors! - Student Center Operations Staff

Alex Capozzolo

Julianne Peed

Alexa Kormos

Kadesha Holder

Aminata Kamara

Kaitlyn Lang

Arthur Dennis

Katie Heer

Brandon Schramm

Kiefer Timmann

Carmella Martonick

Kwashee Totimeh

Diana David

Penda J. Howell

Jamie Clark

Peter Rowe

CLASS OF 2015

Jon Sanborn

Congratulations To Matt Senderling on your graduation from the Temple University Fox School of Business and Management, Class of 2015 Double major in Marketing and International Business Peer Advisor and Temple University Rome Student We are very proud of you! Love, Mom & Dad

Julia, You are our sunshine! You brighten everyone around you! We are so proud of you. Love, Dad, Mom and Allie

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TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

BUILDING A RÉSUMÉ,

THEN BUILDING EVEN MORE Matt Cahill took charge of his dyslexia, turning it into positive energy that has empowered the Temple community. He founded a chapter of Eye to Eye, an art-based mentoring program that pairs up college and middle school students who have learning disabilities. Within two years, the chapter has become the largest in the nation. Just think what his drive and passion could do for your company. He’ll be a life-changing mentor someday. Become his.

MATT CAHILL ’15 HISTORY AND SECONDARY SOCIAL STUDIES EDUCATION

HIRE AN OWL FIND MATT AND OTHERS AT TEMPLE.EDU / TAKECHARGE

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT SENIOR HEADED TO JUILLIARD Darryl “D.J.” Gene Daughtry Jr. will attend The Juilliard School for theater, with a focus in acting, beginning this fall. PAGE 14

“

I really want a legacy. ... The same way I was infected by this bug, I want to be able to infect other people. Darryl Gene Daughtry Jr. | senior theater student

temple-news.com

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KARA MILSTEIN TTN

Zan Barnett is finishing his master’s degree in the Tyler School of Art with a final exhibit. Barnett had 10 works featured in the “Process” show for graphic and interactive design at Temple Contemporary.

ART | EXHIBIT

THE END OF A PROCESS Four graduate students completed master’s degrees with a final show of graphic and interactive design called “Process” in Temple Contemporary.

ANGELA GERVASI | The Temple News

n the evening of April 17, people found an unusual sight in the Tyler School of Art on 13th and Norris streets: adults in the middle of an art gallery tinkering with a set of children’s toys. “I left them out at the show and said, ‘Play with these, just be careful,’ and it was tight because there were all sorts of crazy configurations,” MFA student Zan Barnett

said. The pocket-sized pieces connected magnetically, giving users the opportunity to create each letter of the alphabet. Barnett designed “Alphabones” using what he referred to as “the sickest resources” from Tyler: laser cutters, vinyl cutters and 3-D printers. Barnett created the pieces for a class in which graduate students were required to invent a toy or game.

“One thing I really love about Tyler is we build everything ourselves,” Barnett said. “Alphabones” was one of 10 works by Barnett featured in “Process,” the 2015 MFA Graphic & Interactive Design Exhibition held at Temple Contemporary. The show provided an overview of two years of academic work by Barnett, Stephanie Werning, Josh Schott

A cappella loses senior members

Gamer reaches next level after graduation

Graduating members of Broad Street Line are aiming to continue performing. TIM MULHERN The Temple News Ryan Carlin and Grant Lindeman knew they were the typical “music kids” in high school. It wasn’t until the two started studying at Boyer College of Music & Dance that they realized they were surrounded by people just like them. “Conversations that you couldn’t have with your friends back in high school

about certain artists, styles, or performances, you can now have,” Carlin, a senior music education major and president of Broad Street Line, Temple’s all-male a cappella group, said. Carlin and Lindeman, a senior music therapy major, are two of the five graduating members of Broad Street Line. Mechanical engineering major Jonah Fowler, music education major Gary Clarke and music therapy major Dave Balmer round out the group of departing members. Broad

PROCESS PAGE 15

Ian Shelton, a senior visual studies major, hopes to get into video game design.

JENNY KERRIGAN TTN

Grant Lindeman (left) and Ryan Carlin are graduating members of the Broad Street Line all male a cappella group.

Street Line performed its last concert of the semester on April 19. Carlin joined Broad Street Line in the fall semester of his freshman year. Enthusiastic to begin, he brought arrangements of songs he wanted to perform with the group. At the time, the setlist was already decided, but

the group would eventually perform a song he helped arrange. “The guys might have found me even a little bit annoying,” Carlin said. “I was ... excited to be a part of it.” As a sophomore, Carlin

A CAPPELLA PAGE 15

ALBERT HONG Assistant A&E Editor Temple’s Tyler School of Art doesn’t have a video game design track, much to Ian Shelton’s disappointment. But that didn’t stop the senior visual studies major from getting the most he could out of his four years here. With his future aspiration of working in game design, Shelton also co-founded Temple University Gamers Guild, a gaming organization on Main Campus that meets weekly, in Fall 2013 which helped him connect and relate with other like-minded students. That community aspect is something he said he will miss most about leaving Temple but will still value as a resource for the future. “There’s a lot of people who can help you out with any ques-

GAMING PAGE 14

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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JENNY KERRIGAN TTN

Darryl Gene Daughtry Jr. stands in front of Conwell Dance Theater at Boyer College of Music and Dance, where he has performed on stage over the past four years as an undergraduate theater student.

senior profile | darryl gene daughtry jr.

Actor headed to ‘electric’ city post graduation

Graduating senior Darryl Gene Daughtry Jr. is headed to The Juilliard School in New York next fall to study theater. EMILY ROLEN A&E Editor

Darryl Gene Daughtry Jr. said that when he was in the seventh grade, he was hanging on to one last shred of hope that he could still be popular while performing in the choir. The Temple senior said he wanted to do something with his role as the Tin Man in his school’s musical production of, “The Wiz,” to salvage his “coolness.” “I made my Tin Man wear a fitted ‘do-rag’ and everyone, including my choir director, loved it,” Daughtry said. “I was like, ‘OK, I can make this my own.’ That was the moment when I thought, ‘I can do this.’” “Man, that was a long time ago,” the theater major said, shaking his head. Upon graduating, Daughtry will be entering into The Juilliard School’s graduate program in New York for theater, with a focus in acting Juilliard’s four-year program was appealing to Daughtry because of how much time it would allow for him to transition from being a graduate student and a working professional.

A native of Pittsburgh Daughtry said he frequented Brooklyn, New York, with his family. He views New York, he said, as electric. “There’s something about the air,” he said. “The opportunity for self-starters I feel like is so doable in New York. I’m a very big person on self-starting. I want to work on my own projects, get my name out there the way I want to get it out there.” His plan while in New York, he said, starts with a house. “I want to get a house and invite everyone … over for Sunday dinner, every Sunday,” he said. “When you eat together, it creates a fellowship that is unlike any other. … When you prepare a meal together and pass the salt to someone, you are passing life to them. That is an experience that I would like to share with them.” His time at Temple, however, did not begin in hopes of pursuing a graduate degree. Daughtry said his decision to go into higher education came much later in his undergraduate experience. Toward the end of his freshman year at Temple, Daughtry said there were moments when he stepped off stage and he didn’t remember what he did on stage moments before – he was totally in character. Those moments, he said, were the times when he realized that acting is what he should do with his life. “If I can come off stage transformative, transforming from what I was going into [the show], that means this is something that I am called to do, something that I love to do,” he said. Daughtry said James Iames, a former Temple instructor, actor, director and playwright, was one of his biggest inspirations during his time in Philadelphia.

“I see him as, not only are you a great performer that I can steal things from or I can get inspired by, but you are providing work for me,” he said. “I look up to him a lot.” In addition, Daughtry said Lynne Innerst “hands-up handsdown” was the most influential professor for him at Temple because “she really taught me how to act,” he said. To only focus on theater for the next four years at The Juilliard School, he said, is something he is looking forward to. “It’s so nerdy, but I cannot wait,” he said. “There is nothing like working on the voice, working on acting, working on dance and singing for a straight four years. You’re going to become such a better performer. I just can’t wait.” His goal for the future, he said, will change throughout the day. Daughtry said he wants to become more of a modern performer in the future and hopefully bring that perspective to the theater world. “I really want a legacy,” Daughtry said. “I want to have enough money to make a theater in a community that doesn’t have one. … The same way I was infected by this bug, I want to be able to infect other people.” “It’s always nice to see a young man or black woman come up to me and say, ‘Wow I didn’t think that I could do that. And now that I’ve seen you do it, I can do it as well,’ he added. “I think getting into Juilliard for a lot of people, that was inspiration.” * emily.rolen@temple.edu

Senior focuses on inclusivity with gaming club Continued from page 13

GAMING

tions you may have about anything really, and a whole community of people that are interested in a lot of the same things you are,” Shelton said. “Not having that is tough, it’s going to be really tough.” “I found a lot of communities inside of Temple and also outside of Temple, thanks to those people,” he added. “As long as I’m still in touch with those people, I think that’s the most I can ask for out of it.” Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, Shelton said he knew he wanted to get into game design ever since he was little, having spent a lot of time with his father playing video games. “I would go to school, come home and play Mortal Kombat for about four or five hours a day,” Shelton said. “I think that just spending a lot of time doing that made me pretty drawn to the

whole idea.” With his time at Tyler, Shelton said he had an open mind in finding classes that would help him develop his own “personal style” and open up other opportunities for the future, which included courses like animation and screen printing. But Shelton still enjoys game design the most, and even if he doesn’t work in the industry, he said there will always be time for it in his future. “Anywhere that I could be where I can have time to think, in an office or anything else, as long as I can keep working at my game design, I don’t have to be doing it for a career,” Shelton said. “As long as I have the free time to do that, it doesn’t matter what I’m doing.” Being in Philadelphia has also allowed Shelton to realize the options available to him in the local indie developer scene. It was through an encounter in the city with a former artist for the “Magic: The Gathering” card game that he found a particular interest in character design. “Talking to him about it, I realized I really

Anywhere that I could be where I can have time to “ think ... as long as I can keep working at my game design, I don’t have to be doing it for a career. ” Ian Shelton | graduating president of Temple University Gamers Guild

do enjoy character design, independent kind of design, because it not only allows me an opportunity to develop characters but also to develop ideas and to develop concepts,” Shelton said. “I’m trying really hard to stay in Philadelphia because having access to those people and resources here, as well as being on my own, has really driven me to actually pursue a lot of things that I would never have otherwise pursued,” he added. One of those things was the creation of TUGG, with a goal to promote inclusivity on a campus that Shelton said could’ve done better in bringing different groups of people on campus together. “I think that one of the things that bothered me a lot about the campus is that it’s broken down so heavily into communities that it’s really hard to feel like you’re a part of just a Temple community,” Shelton said. Some of the most memorable moments for Shelton were with TUGG, when such inclusivity allowed people to get out of their comfort zones and interact with one another. Those moments made running the organization worth it, he said. “As far as Gamers Guild is concerned, I think that some of our most successful meetings were the ones where we were able to break down the groups that started to form even within our community,” Shelton said. “I’m not going to lie, running a student organization is a lot of work, but

the fact that people actually can take something away from it really made it worth the time. I don’t mean that in such a philanthropic way, but rather it was nice to know that even when it felt like our space was not necessary to the campus’ development, it really did make a difference.” With support from Paley Library in creating a space for game consoles and tabletop games, as well as collaborating with Temple Music and Arts Group for a Game Lounge event this past February, Shelton feels that TUGG will only continue to grow. “The fact that there are so many people behind us, and that [includes] students, faculty, our members and non-members even, really gives us a good opportunity to actually push forward and have a bigger presence on campus,” he said. As for himself, Shelton said that the four years at Temple has allowed him to become more open and realize that getting involved in the community is important for anyone wanting to develop not only games, but develop themselves. “I think that one of the most important bits of advice I could offer is that there are people who share your interests,” he said. “Being able to be part of a community is really vital to you not only finding resources to do what it is you want, but knowing even for yourself what it is that you want. You learn a lot about yourself by spending time around other people.” * albert.hong@temple.edu

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Graduate students put the process on display Continued from page 13

PROCESS and Nikki Eastman. Tyler’s website, which Barnett manages 20 hours a week for an assistantship, defines graphic and interactive design as the “communication of information and ideas through visual language,” granting the final exhibition a virtually limitless playing field. After he attended Southern Utah University in a town of less than 30,000 residents, Barnett applied exclusively to graduate schools in big cities – Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle. He chose Tyler before he’d even visited Philadelphia. The culture shock, he said, was intimidating. “The East Coast is kind of like a different vibe; everyone moves faster and people chill a little bit less,” Barnett said. Werning, who is from the Washington area, received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design with a minor in printmaking, and a Bachelor of Arts in English, both from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Like Barnett, she chose Tyler before visiting, and she experienced a social shift when she stepped on Main Campus. “There is definitely a big-city, East Coast attitude that sharply contrasts with the ‘Iowa nice’ you get used to out there,” Werning said. “It’s a little more rough-and-tough in Philly, but I think it’s fun.”

Recently, illustration work has played a large role in Werning’s career – something that was reflected in the “Process” exhibition, which included two books she wrote, designed and illustrated. “The Pretty Ugly Dog,” based on a pet owned by Werning’s mother, provided an interactive component where users were able to read the story through differing points of view – literally. “Readers get to use two different pair of glasses to navigate the story; depending on which color you wear, the images and words change to offer either my mother’s perspective on her precious dog, or, alternatively, my notso-complimentary viewpoint,” Werning said. Werning also included “Ex, Y, Z: An Alphabet Book of Regrettable Boyfriends.” She created the semiautobiographical book to bring light and laughter to those who had dealt with unfortunate relationships. “I figured, hell, why not use my experiences to make people laugh?” Werning said. Currently, Werning is preparing to send the books to publishers. Barnett was no stranger to constructing books either. “Hip Hoptimism” included an alphabetical display of inspiring aphorisms in rap music. Barnett quoted artists beginning with Andre 3000, Big K.R.I.T. and Common, until he reached the end of his musical alphabet – Jay-Z. Barnett explored his interest in

hip-hop further when he created an app in a Hybrid Design class, one of his favorite courses at Temple. Barnett’s “My Adidas” app, named after the iconic Run-D.M.C. song, provided an interactive timeline of the relationship between hip-hop and sneakers. “I don’t know how to present it in my portfolio if I want to apply to Nike,” Barnett said, speaking of the company for which he would like to work some day. Werning did not hesitate to incorporate societal motivation into her works. Her most recent project in the series, “Paperheroes,” comprised a smattering of female paper dolls dressed as astronauts, biochemists, paleontologists, programmers and architects. “The whole point is to get young girls to connect their own skills and interests with future career possibilities,” Werning said. “I’d like the next generation of girls to grow up knowing they can succeed in STEM careers, and can be great leaders in these fields.” As the end of the semester nears, each artist has post-graduate aspirations. While Werning leans toward book illustration, Barnett wishes to create recognizable logos – something, maybe, like the symbol for Temple. “It’s geometric and recognizable, like instantly recognizable,” Barnett said. “It’s just fly, and I love Temple, I’m really into college, I love school.” * angela.gervasi@temple.edu

KARA MILSTEIN TTN

In his studio in Tyler, Zan Barnett painted a saying on glass for inspiration for his last few assignments as a graduate student.

KARA MILSTEIN TTN

Zan Barnett made a scarf with magnets on the ends for young children to make it easier to secure.

JENNY KERRIGAN TTN

Grant Lindeman (left) and Ryan Carlin sing, “Love You Long Time” by a cappella group, Pentatonix, in Temple Performing Arts Center.

Broad Street Line graduates look ahead in music Continued from page 13

A CAPPELLA

served as the vice president of Broad Street Line and oversaw the production of the group’s 2013 album “No Girls Aloud.” Carlin served as the president of the group for the past two years. His roles within the group have allowed him to develop himself as a future educator. Freshman music therapy major and Broad Street Line singer Robert DiBartolomeo said he has grown as a member since joining the group. DiBartolomeo said Carlin is someone he has looked up to throughout the year due to his professionalism and leadership within the group. Lindeman joined the group in the spring semester of his sophomore year and was elected vice president quickly

To keep myself “feeling fulfilled, I

have to find time for myself to perform. I know that I’m not done.

”

Ryan Carlin | President of Broad Street Line

thereafter. “It took over my life. ... In a good way,” Lindeman said. Due to scheduling complications, Broad Street Line lost two weeks of rehearsal time prior to its final concert. The group meets three times a week for two-hour practices throughout the semester. “I could only imagine how we would have sounded if we had those 12 hours because I was very, very pleased with what we did this semester,” Carlin said. The lost time meant increased pressure on the group to prepare for the final performance. “We went into the last few weeks pushing a lot of new material,” Lindeman said, “making sure that the best product is put out for the public ... for ourselves so that everyone in the group, including seniors have a great memory to end the semester or end their time in Broad Street Line.” The group prepared each week for both the audience and themselves. “You are always performing for an audience, but as [musicians] we are performing for ourselves as well,” Carlin said. Both Carlin and Lindeman plan to continue performing after graduation. Carlin said performing will help balance his work as an educator. “As a music educator, you’re

JENNY KERRIGAN TTN

Ryan Carlin is one of the graduating members and president of the male a cappella group Broad Street Line.

working for other people to perform and am trying to bring out their best performance practice,” Carlin said. “To keep yourself feeling fulfilled, you have to find time for yourself to perform. I know that I’m not done. I’ve always wanted to be in a small jazz vocal combo group. That could be next for me.”

Lindeman said he has considered joining one of the many Temple-based ensembles comprised of community members. “I’ve been learning through my music therapy training that there is a sense of community,” he said. “It’s not performance, it’s enjoying music – enjoying the atmosphere of music with people in your neighborhood or com-

munity.” Regardless of where their careers will take them, Carlin and Lindeman said they are confident that performing will always be a constant in their lives. “I have to keep performing,” Carlin said. “It’s an itch.” * tim.mulhern@temple.edu

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The Year in PHOTO

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

Photos TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

PHOTO

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BY THE TEMPLE NEWS PHOTO TEAM

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TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

S T A R G N CO OF 2015 S S A CL

WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST FLOCK OF OWLUMNI As new members of the Temple Alumni Association, now is the time to begin the next chapter in your Temple history. We invite you to access the following resources to stay in touch and learn how we can support you in your next steps.

Membership is free and begins automatically with graduation.

alumni.temple.edu/classof2015

/templealumni

@templealumni

#TUGrad15

速

@templealumni

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

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WALL STREET INGENUITY

BROAD STREET TENACITY When the financial crisis hit in 2008, Christopher Fricker was 15. But he didn’t just ask questions; he sought to answer them. Years later as a Temple freshman, he stocked fruits and vegetables every weekend so he could work for a senior U.S. senator every week. He’s experienced Wall Street and a Fortune 500, all while staying levelheaded and quick on his feet. Your company would be lucky to have a powerhouse like him. He’ll electrify a business someday. Make it yours.

CHRISTOPHER FRICKER ’16 FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING

HIRE AN OWL FIND CHRISTOPHER AND OTHERS AT TEMPLE.EDU / TAKECHARGE

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TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

JENNY KERRIGAN TTN

Former team captain and senior guard Will Cummings practices his three-point shots in the McGonigle Hall practice facilities last Friday.

Cummings ends career as team leader Continued from page 20

CUMMINGS

ting notoriety for basketball because you want it even more – you want that goal to happen.” After graduation on May 8, Cummings will return to his hometown to determine where his NBA predraft workouts will take place. If Cummings does not make an NBA roster, he plans to play professional basketball overseas.

“I’m trying to play as long as possible,” Cummings said. “If you can get paid to play something that you love, then it’s not work. It’s having fun playing basketball and you get a check for it.” Three of Cummings’ former teammates play professionally overseas. Former Temple guard Khalif Wyatt, who graduated in 2013, plays professionally for Hapoel Eilat in the Israeli Basketball Winner League. Another 2013 graduate, Scootie Randall, plays for the Iwate Big Bulls in the Japan-BJ League, while 2012 alum Michael Eric plays professionally in Italy for Enel Brindisi

of the Lega Basket Serie A. Cummings has been soliciting advice from the three, especially Randall, who he spoke to every day during the season. “They just tell you to work as hard as possible,” Cummings said. “If it is meant to happen, it will happen. They say to give it all you can.” Another piece of advice Cummings is taking with him is from former Temple basketball walkon Jake Godino. While the two were walking to Johnson & Hardwick halls during Cummings’ freshman

year, Godino, then a senior, caught Cummings off-guard with advice that he still remembers to this day. “He was like, ‘Wait your turn. You are going to be a star,’” Cummings said. * michael.guise@temple.edu T @Michael_Guise

SPORTS BRIEFS

After Murphy dismissal, new coach hired wished to remain anonymous, noted that Salim-Beasley’s hiring is not expected to deter frustrated team members from transferring. Salim-Beasley, who graduated from West Virginia University, started her coaching career in 1999 as an assistant coach at Penn, and will leave behind a teaching career at Eagle Cove School in Pasadena, Maryland to take on her first head coaching opportunity. -EJ Smith

WOMEN’S TENNIS ABDURAKHIMOVA HONORED BY CONFERENCE

SASH SCHAEFFER TTN

Members of the gymnastics team convene following a practice held during January. The team will welcome Umme Salim-Beasley as its new head coach. Beasley was named East Atlantic Gymnastics League Assistant Coach of the Year last season with Rutgers.

SALIM-BEASLEY SET TO REPLACE DISMISSED MURPHY AS WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS COACH

Following the non-renewal of former women’s gymnastics coach Aaron Murphy’s contract, Athletic Director Kevin Clark has hired Umme Salim-Beasley to be the new head coach of the team. Salim-Beasley, formerly an assistant at Rutgers University, spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach. The Pasadena, Maryland native was named the East Atlantic Gymnastics League Assistant Coach of the Year in 2014, and specializes in the uneven bars. “We are extremely excited to have an opportunity to hire a head coach as highly regarded as [Salim-Beasley],” Senior Asso-

ciate Athletic Director Sherryta Freeman said. “Her experience as a coach and an educator, along with her commitment to the development of our women’s gymnasts, will propel our team onto the national stage while providing an outstanding experience for our student-athletes.” Murphy and his entire coaching staff were fired after an internal investigation that began in February for what the university described as “violations of athletic department policy.” The university chose not to comment further on the circumstances leading to the ninth-year head coach’s dismissal. According to a member of last year’s gymnastics team, multiple gymnasts currently on the roster have contemplated transferring due to frustration with Murphy’s firing and lack of communication from the athletic department. The athlete, who

Freshman Alina Abdurakhimova received two American Athletic Conference honors last week. Abdurakhimova was named American Athletic Conference co-Freshman of the Year and was one of 14 players named to The American’s all-conference team after posting an overall singles record of 19-5 during the 2014-15 season. The freshman from Tashkent, Uzbekistan also went 18-2 in dual competitions and helped the program reach 19 wins this season, the most by any women’s tennis team in Temple history. In the conference tournament, Abdurakhimova defeated top-flight singles players from the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, the University of Akron, Central Florida, Connecticut and Cincinnati before the Owls were eliminated by Tulane in the semifinals. -Michael Guise

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS CUMMINGS, YOUTZ EARN STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARDS AT ANNUAL CEREMONY

Temple held its annual Breakfast of Champions last Wednesday. Senior field hockey forward Amber Youtz was named the PNC Female Student-Athlete of the Year, while senior basketball guard Will Cummings and junior golfer Brandon Matthews shared the PNC Male Student-Athlete of the Year honor. More than 300 student-athletes were honored at the breakfast, which is in its 13th year. -Michael Guise

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

SPORTS

Athletics: A year in review

The administration’s mission statement features the lofty goal of resurging a program with fundamental flaws.

ill Bradshaw once labeled it as Temple Athletics’ finest hour. Then a freshman in Temple’s journalism program, I remember it differently. Then-Big East commissioner John Marinatto announced Temple’s impending conference leap at Madison Square Garden on March 7, 2012. Exactly two months after Marinatto delivered that message inside the walls of America’s most hallowed venue, the three-year Big East boss resigned amid the turmoil that led to Temple’s invite in the first place. As I remember thinking then, Marinatto’s exit was a red flag; a warning that this jump back to the Big East – after the conference kicked Temple ANDREW PARENT out in 2004 – in place of West Virginia, which jumped ship in favor of the Big 12 Conference, wouldn’t shake out like it was supposed to. Headed by Athletic Director Kevin Clark, Bradshaw’s successor, Temple’s varsity programs won a combined 147 games in the 201415 athletic year. Of Temple’s 10 sports that record wins and losses, eight of them posted improved records from last year, en route to a nearly 50-win improvement compared to the teams’ 98 combined victories in the American Athletic Conference’s inaugural season. That total does not include Temple’s baseball and softball teams, though, which each won 15 games last spring before they, along with men’s gymnastics and men’s indoor and outdoor track, were axed from Temple’s athletic program in the summer. While senior members of the athletic administration told The Temple News in October that winning national titles across the board is the department’s desired benchmark, some of its actions have not been conducive to a winning culture. In the year and a half that has elapsed since the athletic cuts, two Temple coaches exited the university under precarious circumstances with minimal public explanation from Clark and his staff. A three-sentence-long press release informed the Temple community that sixth-year Temple track & field coach Eric Mobley handed in his resignation, which took effect June 30 of last year, and thanked him for his service to the track program. In late August, The Temple News published

a seven-month investigative report uncovering years of mistreatment that included accusations spanning from verbal abuse and overall neglect to one case of sexual harassment within the track program under Mobley’s watch. Former standout thrower Ebony Moore filed a $10 million civil lawsuit against Mobley, Senior Associate Athletic Director Kristen Foley and the university following the neglect she said she experienced in her time with Mobley’s program. Her story was featured on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” in March as part of an episode tackling the negative aspects of collegiate sports. Less than a week before Moore’s story aired on national television, former women’s gymnastics coach Aaron Murphy was fired along with his entire coaching staff after his nine years in charge of the program. Prior to his firing, Murphy was suspended in February for “violations of athletic department policy,” but athletes on his team said that before Murphy was eventually let go, he was told he could resume recruiting and would be back. “He was told by administration that he was allowed to contact recruits,” former team manager Lauren Smith said. “He was also allowed to announce to the team that he was coming back. I don’t know why they would tell us that.” Other athletes who wished to remain anonymous told The Temple News in March of the confusion surrounding Murphy’s dismissal, and said several team members are planning to transfer in correlation with the coaching turnover. Through my four years at Temple, I’ve witnessed this department shift from a mid-major athletic program in the Middle Atlantic Conference for football, and the Atlantic 10 Conference for most of its sports, to one that claims to have conference- and national-championship aspirations as a member of The American. It’s also one that has failed to publicly acknowledge its interdepartmental issues. If Clark and company achieve what they want to achieve, Temple has a sizeable alumni base that could hop aboard the bandwagon and support a successful program. But as a student journalist who has seen department failures firsthand that should be remembered with any potential success, I’m not sure I’ll be among them. * andrew.parent@temple.edu ( 215.204.9537 T @Andrew_Parent23

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The athletic department’s recent success comes on the backs of those who lost their jobs due to the athletic cuts.

he silence became tangible as if time had stood still. The walls were clad in framed pictures of alumni on St. Joseph’s campus, and a recorder on a coffee table with a wood finish became invisible – before a man who had lost the job he had given his all for decided to stop mincing words. Former baseball coach Ryan Wheeler crossed his legs, scratched at his nose and gazed off into the distance, breaking the elongated silence with three candid words. “It still hurts.” Nearly a year after Athletic Director Kevin Clark and his athletic administration stripped baseball, softball, men’s indoor and outdoor track & field and men’s gymnastics of their DiEJ SMITH vision I sponsorships, I spent many evenings speaking with coaches and athletes who had lost their jobs, their educations, their salaries and their homes. For Wheeler, the end of an era has been seared into his brain. “Thinking about it now, it still brings back some thoughts,” Wheeler told The Temple News last September. “I’m not sure how I made it through, but I kept it together as the season ended and I addressed the team afterward and I’m not sure how I kept it together then either. That was it. It was over.” The athletic department has grown in its first year following the cuts. It has implemented facility upgrades, improvement in scholarship funding and – most importantly – one of the biggest revenue sports turnarounds in the country. It has been a year to remember for the athletic department, but I can’t help but remember more than just a Madison Square Garden trip or dreary Halloween weekend when the football team made history against Top 25 East Carolina. National headlines featured stories of the men’s basketball team beating then-No. 10 Kansas at the Wells Fargo Center in front of 11,188 fans. Those moments resonate, they are the compelling instances that make sports so appealing. But the moments that have shifted to the forefront of my memories of this year’s athletic campaign have been the powerful words of Wheeler, the story of long-time gymnastics coach Fred Turoff, and the sadness of former baseball player Reyn Sugai when he said he lost the perfect combination of athletics and education by leaving Temple to play baseball at a university that still sponsored a team. Turoff, who coached the men’s gymnastics

team at the Division I level for 38 years, spent his final six months on the job fighting back, without avail. Citing his team’s academic success as the main reason for its right to stay, Turoff’s squad stayed near the top of the list of teams at the university for the better part of three years before being cut. “[Our academic success] is something I would like the president to know,” Turoff said to The Temple News last year. “We’re not just an athletic team and we don’t cost them anything. We produce great products. We represent the school well.” After losing the battle to save the men’s gymnastics team, Turoff now coaches the remaining members as a club and deals. The magnitude of the sports cuts can be felt in almost every crevice of the current department – it’s the elephant in the room, for some. “I don’t think anyone is going to adjust to [the men’s track & field teams being cut],” junior sprinter Demeshia Davis told The Temple News in February. “We don’t talk about it just because it hurts, but no one else is talking about it either. No one sheds light on the fact that we still are missing the other half of who we are.” The department will inevitably roll on, and the question remains how many more jobs, opportunities and potential scholarships could be lost in the process. While administrators told The Temple News that all of their sports are set to be fully funded with scholarship dollars by the end of the year – meaning they provide the highest-allowed amount of money regulated by the NCAA – men’s and women’s tennis coach Steve Mauro said that those plans were not implemented, and was unsure if they are in store for his program in the future. “[Extra funding for scholarships] is not in their plans right now,” Mauro said. “Hopefully it will be in the future.” Next year sets up to be another promising one for the Temple Athletics. The football team will host in-state rival Penn State and Notre Dame at home, and the basketball team will seek a season to put it on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble. Those moments may flood the minds of casual fans, but the sad reality is this: the athletic department’s potential for success stands on the backs of the victims of the sports cuts. * esmith@temple.edu ( 215.204. 9537 T @ejsmitty17

Youtz finishes field hockey career as all-time great Continued from page 22

YOUTZ

Player of the Year. Despite an injury, she continued that momentum into her junior year and scored 16 goals in the 16 games she played, and was named a second team All-American by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. “There were a few times I had injuries here and had to sit out for a while,” Youtz said. “Those were the moments that really shaped me. I wanted to come back and play the best I could and I realized at any point field hockey can be taken from you so you have to play your best when you get the chance.” This past season, her last one in a Temple uniform, Youtz played up to the potential she saw in herself that summer three years ago. She tallied 21 goals this season and became the first Temple player in 22 years to be named a NFHCA first team All-American. The Dauphin, Pennsylvania native finished her career with 69 goals and 27 assists in 80 games played. “[My career is] a little bit of a blur,” Youtz said. “You more remember the feelings you had during the games more than the points. … It’s off the field memories, I don’t even remember the scores of some games, but I’ll never forget how I felt with my teammates when we were on away trips.” During the course of Youtz’s career, the field hockey program rose to national prominence. Building off a 9-13 campaign in her freshman season the team progressed annually. At the end of this year the Owls were ranked 11th in the NCAA field hockey Ratings Power Index. The forward’s ability to turn herself from an average player into an All-American and Temple’s ability to rise from a losing program to a nationally ranked one are the types of things Youtz said define Temple field hockey and Temple Athletics in general. “For us it has always been the hardworking underdogs,” Youtz said. “That mentality of never giving up and no matter who we’re playing we’re going to be just as great as them. I think that mentality has been transferring over and now we’re finally up there with the big teams in this program.” With her days as an Owl behind her, Youtz was offered an opportunity to play professionally

HUA ZONG TTN FILE PHOTO

Former four-year field hockey forward Amber Youtz chases after the ball during the Owls’ 4-3 loss to Connecticut on Nov. 1.

in Holland and then tryout for the United States national team after the end of the 2016 Summer Olympics. She has put this option on the back burner for the time being. Youtz is planning to intern at Dreyer’s Physical Therapy this summer where she hopes to return as a physical therapy assistant or possibly a nutritionist, but, she has also found a way to stay involved with the sport she loves. She was offered a position as a co-owner and head coach for the Key State Field Hockey Club, her former club team where she played for five

years. “In high school, my club coach, I’ve said this plenty of times, she shaped who I am,” Youtz said. “I think that I wanted to go back and give back to that program.” The former Key State Field Hockey Club player will use her experiences and journey as a teaching lesson for her players. “I just want to constantly be there to remind them, you only get this opportunity to play so many times,” Youtz said. “You only get the recruiting process one time. So, for them to put ev-

erything they have in when those college coaches are watching, they don’t know how important those moments are and I think I’m there to keep reminding them to keep pushing them for every single game.” * owen.mccue@temple.edu T @Owen_McCue

SPORTS A FINAL GOODBYE

Multimedia: Quarterback Connor Reilly, forward Amber Youtz and guard Will Cummings reflect on their college careers. ONLINE

Our sports blog

thecherry.temple-news.com

A LOFTY GOAL

MURPHY’S REPLACEMENT HIRED

Commentary: The athletic department’s mission is to become a nationally competitive program. Is it realistic? PAGE 21

Women’s gymnastics gets a new coach, the athletic department holds its annual award ceremony, other news and notes. PAGE 20

temple-news.com

PAGE 22

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

One to REMEMBER Amber Youtz will graduate this week, following a historic four-year career with the field hockey team.

OWEN MCCUE The Temple News

ll it took was a few words of encouragement to propel Amber Youtz into greatness on a field hockey pitch. The message delivered the summer before her sophomore year while playing for the USA Field Hockey High Performance team resonated loud and clear. She had a shot to be something special, her coach, Kristen Holmes Winn told her, she could be much better than she had imagined. She hasn’t looked back since. “The Princeton coach said, ‘You have so much potential and I would love to see where you can take it,’” Youtz said. “From that moment on, I changed my diet, I started non-stop fitness, and I was ready to become an All-American.” Youtz finished up her freshman season with a breakout year, being named to the Atlantic 10 AllRookie Team as she started all 22 games and scored four goals. It was her sophomore year, however, where she stole the attention of the conference’s defenses in breakout fashion, scoring a conference-leading 22 goals en route to being named the A-10 Offensive

YOUTZ PAGE 21 DONALD OTTO TTN

Four-year starting forward Amber Youtz finished her career as an All-American and tallied 69 career goals, 27 assists in her 80 career games.

When “ people think

of Tyonna Williams, they are going to think ‘She is a true Temple Owl.”

”

Tyonna Williams | guard

men’s basketball

Cummings pursues professional career Will Cummings now hopes to land a spot on a pro roster, either in the NBA or internationally. MICHAEL GUISE The Temple News

KARA MILSTEIN TTN

Former team captain and guard Tyonna Williams finished her career by leading the young Owls to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament semifinal round despite being one of the last four teams to make it into the consolation tournament.

I couldn’t see myself “anywhere else. ” Connor Reilly | quarterback

ANDREW THAYER TTN

Former quarterback and baseball player Connor Reilly left the baseball team to pursue the starting job as a signal caller. After struggling early on, Reilly finished his career backing up junior quarterback P.J. Walker. Reilly decided to forgo a career as a quarterback to pursue a career in athletic administration.

SPORTS DESK 215-204-9537

Some nights, Will Cummings lies down and thinks about the last four years. Surrounding his bed are his 1,000-point ball, his jerseys from the Reese’s College All-Star Game and Portsmouth Invitational and his firstteam American Athletic Conference honor. These mementos serve as a reminder of how far the Jacksonville, Florida native has come. From the 170-pound freshman guard, to the 50th member of Temple’s 1,000-point club — the eighth player to reach the milestone under coach Fran Dunphy — Cummings’ time in North Philadelphia is nearly over. “It’s like, ‘Wow, all this happened so fast,’” he said. “From my sophomore year to now, a lot of accomplishments and a lot of accolades.” For Cummings, his last year as an Owl was the most memorable. Starting the year 4-3, the Owls were without transfers Jesse Morgan, a senior, and junior Devin Coleman, who were not cleared to play until December by the NCAA. When the duo returned, the Owls won 22 of their final 30 games while reaching the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament. “This year has been an awesome experience,” Cummings said. “It’s been fun overall because I can think back to the beginning of the year when we were around .500 … that turnaround during the middle of the season and how much fun we were having because we didn’t let the early part of the season ruin us.”

SPORTS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM

But for Cummings, who averaged 14.8 points per game and 4.1 assists per game this season, the year was almost defined by a nearloss to Bucknell University in the opening round of the NIT. After finishing the regular season 22-9, the Owls were not selected as an at-large team to participate in the NCAA tournament. Instead, Temple opened up NIT play against Bucknell University as a No. 1 seed in the NIT and defeated Bucknell behind a season-high 30 points from its senior leader. “The moment lasted for a span of time when we didn’t make the NCAA tournament until after our Bucknell game,” Cummings said. “That is my moment where I will remember the most because that is the freshest moment of not making the tournament. We struggled against Bucknell and we won and that jump-started us playing well in the NIT.” “Will was outstanding,” Dunphy added following the Owls’ 73-67 win against the Bison. “It was an unbelievable performance, really. He made a statement. … He shot the ball really well from the perimeter. He was ready to go, I’m very happy for him.” Three games later, the Owls’ season ended with a 60-57 loss to the University of Miami, and Cummings began thinking toward the future. Since he received his first recruiting letter as a junior in high school from the College of Charleston, Cummings had the dream of playing professional basketball. Now Cummings is working to make his dream come true. “[Playing professionally] is the motivation for any kid that is coming to play basketball,” Cummings said. “It increased when I started get-

CUMMINGS PAGE 20

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

SPECIAL PROJECT

CRIME & CAMPUS

PAGE C1

by THE TEMPLE NEWS STAFF

Engulfed in a negative stigma regarding crime, Temple depends on its police force – the largest at any university nationwide – to protect students and the surrounding community.

ITH A GUN PRESSED TO HIS STOMACH, Evan Mallon offered up all of his belongings: his phone, wallet and bags packed with clothes. “Give me everything,” he was told. The man he encountered at 16th and Oxford streets took the phone and searched through Mallon’s coat before moving on. Mallon was on his way to a beach trip on the first night of Spring Break when the incident occurred. “You’re not going to do anything,” Mallon, a senior art major, said. “You’re not going to scream, you’re not going to do anything that this guy doesn’t tell you to do, because it is life and death at this point.” The armed robbery was the second incident for Mallon this school year – he was thrown into a fence and suffered a cut to the head last December. While Mallon said he brushed off the first incident as a random case of wrong place, wrong time, the second, more recent incident stuck with him. “I came to Temple being like, ‘It’s not going to be as bad as you think,’” he said. “No one is out to rob anyone for the sake of just robbing them.” That notion, Mallon said, was thrown out the window the night the man absconded with his phone. Mallon said the suspect also robbed another student of his phone at gunpoint, as that student was walking with a friend about a half-block behind Mallon on Oxford Street at the time of the incident. Both victims soon called police. They received a quick response and were taken around neighboring streets to other police cars who had stopped men that fit the students’ description. Since the robbery, Mallon said he mostly stays at his girlfriend’s apartment, which sits closer to Main Campus. He rarely goes to his apartment on 18th and Oxford streets, two blocks far-

KARA MILSTEIN TTN

ther off Main Campus from where he was stopped. If he needs to, he said he usually bikes or skateboards – he feels wheels make him safer than walking. “It really made me so overly cautious,” he said. “Almost to the point of prejudice.” Mallon’s feelings highlight one of the most pressing issues facing the university community – campus safety. During a period in which Temple’s footprint seems to be expanding farther and farther beyond the confines of Main Campus as the university continues its transition from a mostly commuter school to a largely residential one, crime in the area is a major cause of concern for students, parents and community residents. A series of recent high-profile incidents have heightened these concerns. In October 2013, a professor was robbed at knifepoint inside his office in Anderson Hall. Last October, six students were tied up and robbed in their home on the 1900 block of 18th Street in a targeted, drug-related attack. In January, 56-year-old community resident Kim Jones was murdered at 12th and Jefferson streets, and surveillance footage captured the alleged killer, 36-year-old Randolph Sanders, walking through Main Campus. Robert Wilson, a

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

“Crime & Campus” is the result of a semester’s worth of original reporting on Temple Police and crime at Temple, as well as community relations in the context of TUPD’s presence in the neighborhood. Some previously published content was aggregated into this report. All words, images and video in this project are the work of Temple students, mostly editors on The Temple News’ staff. For a special presentation of this story, visit longform.temple-news.com.

Philadelphia police officer from the 22nd district, which encompasses Temple, was shot and killed at a GameStop northwest of Main Campus in March, which also brought attention to the area. Perhaps the most highly-publicized recent crime happened on an evening in late March 2014, when four students said they were victimized in three separate assaults by a group of about 10 youths. One of the beatings, carried out with a brick, left a female student in the hospital requiring emergency surgery. In the immediate days that followed, each of the students said they attempted to go to the police to report the incidents, but only found varying degrees of help. The university did not send out a TU Alert – the text and email notification system that the university maintains is meant to inform students of ongoing incidents in which there is an “immediate danger” to the community. A then-15-year-old girl was later arrested, charged as an adult and sentenced to two-and-a-half to six years in state prison, along with four years of probation and other conditions. The “brick attack,” as some have called it, sparked the university’s expansion of its patrol borders during the fall semester last year. Since the victims notified Philadelphia police first and the incidents took place beyond the Temple Police patrol zone, Temple officials were not immediately aware of the attacks and did not make a statement until three days later. “I think that kind of hit home and said, you know, we really have to take another look at this,” Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said following the patrol border expansion. Temple Police broadened its patrol zone by nearly 25 square blocks, mostly extending its boundaries to the west and southeast of Main Campus. The announcement was met with positive feedback from students. While theft and robbery are among the most common crimes

CRIME PAGE C2

I N S I D E , A LO O K AT COMMUNIT Y

STUDENTS

POLICE

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CRIME

to occur at Temple, sexual misconduct has also been a problem – as police say reported incidents rose during 2013 and 2014. Last May, Temple was announced as one of 55 – now 94 – colleges and universities under investigation by the Department of Education for possible violations to Title IX requirements in relation to the university’s handling of sexual assault and harassment cases. Still, in terms of overall offenses, Temple manages to maintain comparable statistics to other major higher education institutions throughout the city. The total number of crimes reported on Main Campus was 600 in 2014, the most recent available statistics distributed under the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting Act. This figure ranks second of six local universities – which includes the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, St. Joseph’s, Villanova and La Salle. Penn recorded the most offenses in 2014 with a total of 1,030, much of which is probably the result of a larger patrol area compared to the other universities, Leone said. The respective police departments of each school listed above declined to be interviewed for this story. President Theobald, whose tenure began in 2013, also turned down an interview request. To combat robbery, theft and other crimes, the university community relies on Campus Safety Services – a department that employs more than 130 sworn Pennsylvania-certified police officers and several building security guards. According to multiple sources, Temple Police is the largest university police force in the country. Though Temple’s police department has existed for several decades, it has evolved with the school that it protects. Facing dynamics unlike many other universities, like tense relationships between new students and longtime residents, along with the school being located in one of the most crime-ridden areas in the city, Temple’s officers face many obstacles in keeping Main Campus safe. The Temple News has spent the spring semester reporting on these obstacles, and the methods Temple Police uses to overcome them in an effort to protect the university community. Through interviews with more than a dozen students, officers and community leaders, reporters here have aimed to tackle an often-asked question – one that comes to mind for many current and prospective students, along with their families and surrounding neighbors: How safe is Temple University?

CHARLIE’S ‘FOLKS’

During an early Saturday morning last November, Charlie Leone received a phone call he said “made his heart stop.” A Temple student had been shot. As he soon discovered, a bullet struck a 22-year-old undergraduate in the left hip outside of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity house on the 1500 block of North 17th Street. The student was lucky. The injuries, not life-threatening, were treated at Hahnemann University Hospital and resulted in a quick release from the medical facility. Even with more than 30 years of involvement with Temple Police, Leone said whenever a student is involved in a serious incident like the shooting last November, it’s a scary situation – especially for the victim’s parents receiving the call.

“I’m a parent,” he said. “So from the parent’s perspective, I’m like, ‘Oh, I can’t even imagine as a parent getting that phone call.’ And then as executive director, I’ve got to put on that suit and talk about what we need to do, what we need in the community … so that’s a heart-stopper.” Leone, the executive director of Campus Safety Services, is in charge of the the largest university police force in the nation – a team he calls “his folks.” Temple, an urban university that sits in a richly-historic North Philadelphia neighborhood, does not have defined campus borders. And, given its location, the university also has a high crime rate – according to Temple’s 2014 Security and Fire Safety Report, nearly 1,300 crime cases were documented in 2013, the most recent university data available. On a day-to-day basis, Campus Safety Services collaborates with the Division of Student Affairs, offers shuttle and walking services and provides general information and tips for students to remain safe on and near Main Campus. CSS also offers self-defense classes through the university and hosts numerous events to promote campus safety. Throughout Main Campus, there are about 60 blue emergency phone poles that serve as a direct line to Temple Police in case of an emergency. The university’s main notification system, TU Alert, sends an email and text message to registered students and employees when an incident occurs on or near Main Campus that requires “immediate action,” according to Temple’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. Students critical of the system feel it isn’t consistent with releasing information, but Leone said the alerts are only for incidents that pose an immediate threat to the entire community, so not all cases of serious crime will be shared. The limitation of alerts is partly aimed to prevent unnecessary fear among the student body. The presence of bicycle cops has also broadened the capabilities of Temple’s police force. The university has a contract with AlliedBarton Security Services, which is designed to provide another layer of protection in buildings, and has a strong relationship with Philadelphia Police’s 22nd District, which includes Temple. SEPTA Transit Police Chief Thomas Nestel III spoke highly of his department’s alliance with the university, citing classes it offers to Temple Police officers on how to navigate tunnel systems. Bicycle officer James Jones, who has been a part of Temple Police for seven years, spends nearly five hours a day on his department-provided bicycle, biking up to 15 miles in a day. Jones’ routine, which begins at 7 a.m., includes biking to 10 different checkpoints throughout Main Campus to ensure no suspicious activity, directing traffic and sometimes being the first responder to a crime scene. “We respond to it all, everything is fair game for us,” said Jones, who carries a radio and a firearm on him while taking his rounds. “Depending on what the job is, sometimes we’re first to the scene. If there is an arrest that has to be made, we’ll call in an officer with a vehicle.” Jones said the bicycle officers from private security contractor AlliedBarton serve as Temple Police’s eyes and ears, but do not carry weapons. “They can only do so much,” Jones said. “They have to report what they see, they don’t carry weapons, and that is a big disadvantage. They are truly an extension of us, they’ll call us when they see things. … It’s a layer,

JD MOUSLEY TTN

Charlie Leone has been with Temple Police for the past 30 years.

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

KARA MILSTEIN TTN

Lieutenant Russell Moody speaks with a student awaiting EMS near 16th and Berks streets on April 10. Moody passed the student three times standing at that spot, and after concluding he was too intoxicated to move, he called for medical assistance.

another layer of security.” Even with a high volume of patrolling officers, certain types of crimes remain an issue. One in particular is sexual assault, which has received national recognition with the launch of President Obama’s “It’s On Us” campaign this past September. About two months after Obama’s announcement, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights visited Main Campus and led focus groups concerning a Title IX investigation that was announced last May for the university’s handling of sexual violence and harassment complaints. According to Clery statistics from Temple’s 2014 Security and Fire Safety Report, the number of total sex offenses

on campus, in unobstructed public areas immediately adjacent to or running through the campus and at certain non-campus facilities,” according to the Act’s website. In 2013, Temple’s index for theft was 1,124.1. All other universities also reported an index of more than 1,000, except La Salle. Donna Gray, manager for Risk Reduction and Advocacy Services at Temple, started a theft-reduction program in 2010 that involves student workers placing Temple Police stickers on items left unattended for extended periods of time in high-traffic university buildings. She said the program is important because theft continues to be a problem on college campuses.

I told people, ‘I work at Temple,’ “When they’d sometimes say, ‘Oh my.’ ” James Hilty | former administrator and historian

has increased on Temple’s Main Campus from 2011-13. The total dropped from seven to four from 2011-12, before rising to 11 two years ago. Leone said that number continued to increase in 2014, even with more attention toward these incidents. But compared to other major area universities – La Salle, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, St. Joseph’s and Villanova – the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting Act shows that although the number of sex offenses have increased, Temple ranks lowest when accounting for discrepancies in students and employees while using Clery statistics. Based on the state’s Uniform Crime Reporting formula, which uses a 100,000-person index divided by each university’s number of “full-time equivalents” – the combined total of full-time students and employees – Temple had a crime index of 32.7 for sex offenses in 2013. St. Joseph’s, La Salle and Villanova all had figures that roughly doubled Temple’s. However, even with more information available about the crime, Leone said sexual assault continues to be underreported, which could affect the statistics for each university. In contrast, Temple ranks comparatively high in overall robbery cases when using the same formula. In 2013, the university reported an index of 77.3, the most of any university. Leone said at least 80 percent of robberies on Temple’s Main Campus involve cell phones, because they’re easy to steal and have a high transfer value. “It’s so easy to come by and grab it out of your hand and run,” Leone said. “It’s an ‘opportunity crime’ … it’s an easy thing to take, so that’s what we’re seeing.” A similar offense – theft, which is not classified as a Clery crime – also remains an issue. Crimes that fall under the Clery Act are “incidents that occur

“People may not think it’s that big of a deal,” Gray said. “But the reality is, whatever you purchase, it’s costing you something, and replacing it is costing you something. In terms of a criminal enterprise, why should people profit from that?” In terms of another major Clery crime, aggravated assault, Temple ranked fourth among the six schools with an index of 20.8. Villanova placed highest with an index of 33.3. Clery statistics for the 2014 calendar year will not be available until October because of changes in Temple’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, Leone said. “Part of the problem is that laws are changing,” Leone said. “When laws change, you have to change your documents … it’d be easy if the only thing you needed to publish was your crime statistics … we could do that by the end of January.” Leone added that Temple Police pulls this data and information from multiple organizations and sources, further slowing the process. A key part of maintaining and updating these documents and statistics – along with a strong security presence – is communication. Captain Joe Garcia, the head of Temple’s Communication Center, was asked in 2010 to come in and help “professionalize” the department. “We knew that 24/7, 365 days, our communication center would have to be committed to providing the service that they needed to provide to the community,” Garcia said. Temple has had a communication center since 1968, albeit a simple one, with one person operating a single phone, Garcia said. Now, the center is operated by a shifting four-person team of dispatchers who have to go through a rigorous, multi-step training and development track. This process helps the dispatchers when using the available technol-

ogy, which includes live-feed monitors from more than 600 cameras around Main Campus and the CAD, or computer-aided dispatch, system that opens and automates lines of communication between Main Campus and the Philadelphia Police Department. Garcia holds deep praise and trust for his team, which he said deals with stressful situations every day. “These guys are working 16-hour days, at least two or three times a week so you get tired, you get frustrated, you want to be at home,” Garcia said. “It’s a 24-hour operation, so we have to cover it. … This is the commitment that they have.”

FROM ‘GUARDS’ TO OFFICERS

Early in his time at Temple, James Hilty’s employment would draw some stares. “There were times when Temple was a difficult place to come and go to,” Hilty, a former administrator and historian at the university, said. “When I told people, ‘I work at Temple,’ they’d sometimes say, ‘Oh my,’” he added. Friends, relatives and others he met largely knew the university as a dangerous place, particularly after one notorious incident, in which a student was murdered in a parking lot on Main Campus. David Fineman, a 21-year-old graduate student who taught junior high in Ardmore, was shot and killed in late April 1970 outside Annenberg Hall after presenting a paper there. Police apprehended several young men who lived west of Main Campus in connection with the shooting. Several of their addresses, mostly on Bouvier Street, are now surrounded by student residences. Homicide Lieutenant James Murray told the Inquirer the suspects “were out to to get anybody, to kill someone, with no particular person in mind.” The murder “gave Temple some bad publicity,” Hilty said. And that included the front-page, two-story package in the April 28 issue of the Inquirer, in which Murray is quoted. The media attention led Marvin Wachman, then-vice president for academic affairs under President Paul Anderson, to address Fineman’s murder and another crime on the Health Sciences Campus in a letter to the Temple community dated May 1, 1970. “These senseless incidents have shocked the University community and its neighbors, but they have also raised questions about the effectiveness of present security arrangements,” he wrote. The university then convened two task forces, one for each campus, which were required to provide recommendations for improvements to campus safety no later than May 15 of that year. Several of the task forces’ broad recommendations, outlined in a May 20 story in the now-defunct Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, are now a reality for students today, including emergency

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

SPECIAL PROJECT young Leone modeled the new uniform in an announcement flyer on the change. In more recent history, the force has expanded its use of technology, including use of the blue emergency phones installed in 2001, and has expanded bike patrols while increasing hiring, particularly in the years leading up to the expansion of the patrol borders west to 18th Street and as far south as Jefferson Street. Several officers who began serving around 30 years ago, including Chapman and Bradley, are still on the force and have watched it change through the years. “I think we’re all proud to wear our uniforms and proud to be where we’re at, because it wasn’t always like this,” Chapman said. “We didn’t always have positive feedback, we didn’t always have positive, good relationships, even with the university. … Everyone didn’t look at us the same.”

A PLACE TO CALL HOME

KARA MILSTEIN TTN

Charles Smith patrols near Pearson Hall on May 3. Smith has worked for AlliedBarton Security Services for the past five years and has been stationed at Temple for the past year and a half.

phones and university-wide photo identification. Around that time, Temple was beginning to expand farther from its base east of Broad Street, buying up properties and clearing land in a neighborhood that had changed drastically since the post-World War II era. Around 1945, North Philadelphia began to de-industrialize. Once a haven for the garment and textile industries – many neighborhood residents walked to work at a factory near their homes – companies began to move out of the city in favor of places farther south in the country. “Workers moved out because companies moved out,” Hilty said. Many followed their employers. That shift resulted in housing vacancies and a changing neighborhood as poorer ethnic groups moved up from the south, part of the Great Migration. “The whole pathology of North Philadelphia changed,” Hilty added. “You can’t blame it on a single fact. The people that moved in just weren’t able to sustain that quality of life.” And with the changed neighborhood, larger campus and recent incidents in mind, Temple began to recruit more officers, including a significant portion from the city force, while professionalizing and standardizing its own. Captain of Special Services Eileen Bradley, who joined the department in 1972 as its first female patrol officer, said Fineman’s shooting led to a “hiring spurt,” of which she was an initial part. “Back then it was just the night shift [that was armed],” Bradley said. “And you didn’t bring [your weapon] home, you had to turn it in every night.” Bradley said at the point she was hired, the force was relatively large for the area. “You could have a police officer on every corner,” Bradley said. “Of course, there weren’t that much [corners]. We didn’t go beyond 12th Street. … The footprint was smaller.” Bradley was also the first officer to patrol on a bicycle. “We had these Schwinn red bicycles,” she said. “I loved it. … It was strictly a volunteer thing, and I volunteered for it. I could get anywhere on this campus faster than anybody else.” One challenge that arose in long-term plans to deter crime was that Main Campus was left open, Hilty said. Other schools rising in deteriorating areas, including Yale and the University of Southern California, “basically put up walls” to deter crime, he added. Columbia University, near New fchapYork

City’s Harlem neighborhood, kept a more open campus as its surrounding neighborhood deteriorated, and has had struggles with crime. “I’m grateful Temple hasn’t built up walls,” Hilty said. “We’ve kept the campus open to the community. Anyone can walk through it if they’d like.” Through the 1980s and 1990s, the university continued to hire officers and the newcomers were regularly touted in administrators’ speeches and letters as well as campus safety pamphlets sent to parents and prospective students, particularly after President Peter Liacouras announced his “Zero Tolerance for Crime” initiative. That plan included more visible foot patrols and increased use of technology, along with more hiring. Announcements of new hires from that era indicate that several new officers had previously served as building security guards. And under Liacouras, the school also created new administrative positions for campus safety, recruiting candidates with experience in the Philadelphia Police Department, including a former deputy commissioner and a former Inspector. The facilities for Campus Safety Services, as it is now called, included a locker room on Norris Street where the Edward Rosen Hillel Center stands, and the small office across from Sullivan Hall on Polett Walk. There were some additional offices in what is now the Conwell Inn. As Bradley remembers it, the expansion of the force necessitated the move to the Bell Building, a former operations center for the Bell Telephone Company that now houses CSS and the TECH Center. At first, Temple rented out the building from Bell, but now the university owns it. Captain of Security Operations & Special Events Jeffrey Chapman, who has served since 1986 and earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at Temple last year, said there were still changes to be made under Liacouras to continue professionalization. “I remember, once upon a time, we were strictly referred to as guards,” Chapman said. “As time went on, we made some changes and got into community policing, started developing relationships with the community and the university, and got to upgrading the equipment.” He said the difference between the department then and now is “night and day.” In the 1990s, TUPD changed its uniforms to the current color scheme — “something more professional,” Bradley said, was changing the primary color from gray to midnight blue— and a

KARA MILSTEIN TTN

Natasha Rovera-Overton, a dispatcher for Temple Police, works in the force’s Communication Center to organize extra security in case the “Philly is Baltimore” protest comes north to Main Campus on April 30.

Once, it was a game. More than a year has elapsed since teenager Zaria Estes and a group of accomplices patrolled the streets along the outskirts of Main Campus, looking to, as a prosecutor would later say, “knock a bitch down.” Zaria Estes, 15 at the time, grabbed a brick and hit a 19-year-old student in the face who was walking home slightly west of Main Campus – it was March 21, 2014 at about 6 p.m., around dinner time. The sun was still out. That student was sent to Hahnemann University Hospital and required emergency surgery. Assistant District Attorney Paul Goldman said the group saw a few girls on the street and asked if they wanted to join in on the attacks, resulting in three assaults within a five-block radius. No TU Alert was sent for the incidents and the students who reported the assault to Temple or Philadelphia police said they received varying degrees of help. Estes was sentenced to a minimum of twoand-a-half years in prison and four on probation after pleading guilty to aggravated assault, conspiracy and possession of an instrument of crime with intent to harm. For Temple Police, the incident was a wakeup call. “I think it certainly had us ask the question, ‘Are we doing everything we can to provide a safe environment for the students?’” Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone told The Temple News last September. “We wanted to think of it as a good way to be supportive to the students, supportive to the neighbors and then showed them that we can be a cohesive community and make the whole place safer,” he later added. Since the attack, Temple Police has expanded its patrol borders significantly. Last fall, the western boundary was extended from 16th Street to 18th Street, a notable change that affects students living past 16th Street. Other changes included extending the eastern boundary to Ninth Street, the northern boundary to Susquehanna Avenue and the southern boundary to Jefferson Street. The number of TU Alerts sent out by the department has increased as well. Still, despite the flood of concern following Estes’ violent attacks, the new safety precautions don’t ease everyone’s mind. Evan Mallon, the student who was assaulted and robbed in two separate incidents during his collegiate career, said his continued exposure to danger and feelings of insecurity have impacted him in a way he didn’t think possible when he first stepped on to Main Campus. Mallon is from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, and acknowledged Temple’s reputation for crime when he enrolled. He said that he thought he would do what most people tell Temple students to do – “be smart.” “I’ve gone to Temple for the last three years and have been totally fine with the impression that crime happens anywhere,” he said. “But having something like this happen twice in a recent time span has really just freaked me out.” Prior to both of Mallon’s experiences, several Temple students were tied up and robbed of a few thousand dollars worth of personal property last October in an off-campus home invasion on the 1900 block of 18th Street, between Berks and Norris streets. Two victims said a few friends who are non-Temple students let the suspects inside, where they demanded one of the students to unlock and hand over the contents of a lock box. They then pistol-whipped and punched that student, leaving him unconscious. Charlie Leone said the attack was not random, and that the suspects targeted the student that was knocked unconscious. After the suspects left the property, the tiedup students were freed by roommates who had remained hidden upstairs during the incident and said they immediately called 911. Both Temple and Philadelphia police responded to the incident. Leone said police have identified each of the three suspects, and currently have two of them in custody – one of which is a juvenile. An outstanding warrant is out for a third suspect, but no arrest has been made. A TU Alert message was sent to Temple students after the incident, just before 9 p.m. “I think a lot of the follow-up stuff that [Temple police] did was very good,” sophomore social psychology major Chris Wildermuth, one of the victims, said. “They were very detailed, very nice and very helpful about the situation. They kept us updated about things that were happening with the case, court information, stuff that we would want to know.”

PAGE C3 Wildermuth said he had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder directly following the incident, including “cold sweats in the middle of the night and bad nightmares.” He no longer lives in the apartment, and he said he started commuting from his parents’ home in November for the rest of the fall semester before moving back to another off-campus residence. “[The incident] didn’t affect my activity or anything, but it makes me more aware of the people around me, more suspicious,” he said. Sophomore printmaking major Ian McLaughlin, another victim, said a new, negative outlook toward Temple’s surrounding area that he picked up directly following the incident wore off after a few weeks. The experience, he said, did leave him in a state of vigilance that still lingers. “It’s more just paranoia and suspicion,” McLaughlin said. “You don’t know what someone’s planning. Walking down the street, you think about it.” Students aren’t the only ones who have been forced to think about their surroundings. Safety concerns were heightened in October 2013 on Main Campus, after an 81-year-old professor was robbed and assaulted inside of his office in Anderson Hall. The perpetrator found a way up to the second floor, despite AlliedBarton officers stationed at the main entrance who require entrants to show an Owl Card to gain access to areas past the lobby. Darryl Moon, 46, of the 3000 block of North Sydenham Street, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault and robbery in a hearing in June 2014. He received his sentence later that year: 1735 years in prison. According to court documents, Moon entered Anderson around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 29, 2013 and went up to the Intellectual Heritage offices on the second floor. He punched the victim in the face, demanding his wallet before putting a knife to the professor’s throat, according to a post on the Philadelphia Police website. After obtaining the wallet, Moon hit the victim again. A security camera caught Moon, who is not affiliated with Temple, leaving Anderson through the second floor mezzanine doors, which police said were sealed off last summer to improve security. Though for some students, safety concerns often dominate the discourse on community relations, others are also concerned about the families and longtime residents in the surrounding neighborhood. Verishia Coaxum, a senior, said when she was growing up, children in the Cecil B. Moore neighborhood were expected to pursue cosmetology school or enter the military. It’s a mindset she

I think we’re all proud “ to wear our uniforms and

proud to be where we’re at, because it wasn’t always like this.

”

Captain Jeffrey Chapman | TUPD

still sees in the community she’s known her whole life. Coaxum isn’t just a student-resident of North Philadelphia; she’s a lifelong resident who grew up at 22nd Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue. She recalls years during her childhood when students wouldn’t go past 18th Street, but now she even sees student housing between 19th and 20th streets. “Freshman year, I used to be very defensive and protective of my neighborhood, because students would say comments like, ‘Oh we don’t feel safe going past 19th Street,’ and I would get defensive because I lived at 22nd,” she said. “They would say, ‘Oh well do you feel safe there? How do you get home?’ And I was like ‘I walk.’ And then I got ‘How’s the housing?’ and I was like ‘It’s my actual house, I grew up here.’ And then the awkward silence came.” Students like Mallon opt to rent in housing marketed to students that has sprung up on 18th Street and beyond. But Coaxum said now that she’s been a student for four years, she’s sympathetic to students’ concerns, as well. Instead of getting frustrated with their misconceptions about her neighborhood, she tries to communicate ways students and local residents can connect and begin to dispel negativity between the university community and surrounding area. Coaxum’s family owned three properties on the 22nd Street block and still owns two today. From a young age, her mother made it clear that the question wasn’t whether or not she would go to college, but which college she would go to. When Coaxum was awarded the 20/20 Scholarship from Temple four years ago, the question of where was answered. The scholarship, awarded to high school students living in select zip codes that are in the community surrounding the university, is based on academic achievement and requires students to maintain a 3.0 GPA. Coaxum, an English major with a distinction in poetry and criminal justice minor, looks back on four years of working closely with programs based on community relations and serving the local residents acclimating to the gradual spread of Temple’s reach. “I think the community lacks a voice, and I think there is a disconnect between the 22nd District and the community,” Coaxum said. “That’s where I think that communication needs to be built with meetings where the police come, the

PAGE C4

SPECIAL PROJECT

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

JENNY KERRIGAN TTN

Eileen Bradley, captain of special services for Temple Police, answers the phone in her office. There’s a joke around the station that when someone doesn’t know what to do when a call comes, they hand the phone over to her.

Continued from page c3

CRIME

Temple Police come, residents, students – its an open forum for that dialog to take place. I think at this point there lacks any specific communication. And that’s what will address a lot of people’s concerns, talking about the issue and what they have problems with.” In her own efforts to improve that communication, Coaxum has done volunteer work through the Office of Community Relations and Women’s Christian Alliance, where much of her efforts have been working with youth – making sure they are aware of their options beyond the military and cosmetology school. Erica Ferraiolo, a senior speech therapy major, is the president of Temple University Community Service Association. She’s been involved in the organization since close to her start at Temple, when she simply attended the organization’s events as a volunteer. TUCSA works with the Office of Community Relations to connect with local organizations and send student-volunteers to community events. “I could see how [community residents] would get mad – they were here first, this is their territory, kind of,” Ferraiolo said. “And college kids aren’t the quietest bunch, they can be rowdy. But if there was any way we could potentially get along, that would be great. It would have to come from both sides. The college kids being more aware of their neighbors, and vice versa.” For Ferraiolo, volunteering within the community has been a formative aspect of her undergraduate years. Working at local service organizations has given her “a sense of what’s going on in the community,” she said. Andrea Swan, director of Community and Neighborhood Affairs at the Office of Community Relations, believes students like Coaxum and Ferraiolo are the critical factor in bridging the gap between the university and local community. She acts as the liaison between TUCSA and community organization leaders, helping the students involved connect with local leaders and send volunteers to staff events. Since many students grew up in suburban and rural areas, Swan said, they often aren’t familiar with urban living. This can lead to an increase of quality of life complaints received by the Office of Community Relations from both students and residents, she said. Students like Mallon – who, unlike Coaxum and other students from the area, grew up outside of Philadelphia in a non-urban area – may be informed of all the safety precautions they need to take, but do not fully understand the realities of living in a large city, Swan said. Coaxum said she does feel that the expanding presence of Temple Police is creating an overall safer environment, but she also sees the situation from a long-time resident’s perspective. The obvious distinction between Temple Police-patrolled area can make non-student residents feel like there is “separation.” “I think that when [Temple Police] do the walks, and the patrols, that’s been helpful. It helps eliminate some of the crime,” Coaxum said. “As a student, on campus I feel safe. … As a resident, you know sometimes I feel like Temple doesn’t care if I’m safe getting home, or just about the residents’ [safety], because it stops at a certain point.” It comes back to the disconnect between the university and community, she said. When the border first expanded, she thought the police “were looking for someone specifically” and was confused by their presence. Many residents don’t realize they can talk to the Temple Police about issues or concerns, but Coaxum thinks this could be improved “if [the police border] didn’t stop so abruptly, if it just kind of glided into it like a gradual transition.” Just like housing, she thinks police protection should be visibly equal to an observer.

BRIDGING THE GAP

Every morning just before sunrise, Fred Tookes opens the gate to his church. Tookes is the pastor of the The Original Apostolic Faith Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, at 1512 N. Broad St. on the south edge of Main Campus. Hardly any students step foot inside the historic church, Tookes said. In fact, he said students

who stroll by the building throughout the day, including at 6 a.m. when he opens the iron gates of the church building, don’t acknowledge him. Tookes is one of many in the community whose lives have been affected – for better or for worse – by the increase in students living on or around Main Campus. Perhaps the most visual sign of this residential growth lies in Morgan Hall, the 27-story high-rise dormitory structure that opened its doors for the Fall 2013 semester on the southern edge of campus – a building whose Temple “T” logo is visible far past Temple’s boundaries down Broad Street. Last fall, a petition for Google to change the name “Temple Town” on Google Maps to the Cecil B. Moore Community garnered support from many, including the university. The search engine later dropped the “Temple Town” name from its maps. Temple students’ place in the community has caused tension between them and the non-university related neighbors who surround them, as highlighted by instances like the “Temple Town” controversy. The challenges that arise from this tension are part of what Temple Police and the Philadelphia Police Department’s 22nd District are often forced to deal with. “Temple University is North Philadelphia,” said 22nd District Captain Robert Glenn, “and North Philadelphia is Temple University.”

MARGO REED TTN

Students Chelsea Webb (bottom left), Shannon Carroll (top left), Tanya Silverstein (bottom right), Lindsay Flesher (top right) and Kristin Beauchamp (center), watch Alayna Brooks, a resident of North Philadelphia, at the TU Cares lunch on Bouvier Street on April 26.

are “very strong, positive relationships” between community organizations and Temple’s police force. “Most of the complaints we receive, if there are complaints from our neighbors, they may pertain to parking issues or off-campus student-housing issues,” Swan said. “We meet on a pretty routine basis with residential and rental associations that border our campus, and the leaders of these organizations know really well how to reach out to these individuals and campus safety.” Gregory Bonaparte, a member and trustee of Berean Presbyterian Church located on Broad Street and a Temple mechanic, said that when he lived at 15th and Diamond streets in 1969, he rarely saw students venture past Diamond Street. Now the dynamic has changed, he said, posing new challenges. “Eighteen- to 25-[year-olds], young folks, of any kind of race, they don’t have the same kind of respect toward older people as they should,” Bonaparte said. “Older people say, ‘I don’t want to hear no parties, I don’t want to see no drinking’ – it’s a generation gap.” Though Bonaparte said he sees a sizable portion of students interested in becoming more invested in the community, there is still more that students can and should be doing to improve the relationship, especially in terms of crime, he said. “Crime doesn’t have a culture, it doesn’t have

I think the community lacks a voice, and I think “ there is a disconnect between the 22nd District and the community. ” Verishia Coaxum | senior and community resident

By midnight during a ride-along with Temple Police earlier this semester, noise complaints began rolling in. The first was cleared after responding officers reported finding hundreds of students jammed into three floors of an off-campus house on the 1800 block of 18th Street. Undeterred, partygoers apparently turned the corner and went into another party on the next street over – the 1800 block of Bouvier Street – which was called in 10 minutes later. “It’s a happening school,” said Lieutenant Russell Moody, who throughout two separate ridealongs with Temple News reporters expressed a positive attitude about growth of off-campus living, which has recently coincided a growth in Temple Police’s patrol boundary this past fall. Later during the second ride-along, students were seen knocking down a stop sign off Main Campus. “You have students who may not be familiar with urban living,” Glenn said. “You have to co-exist with the people who live here. When you come to school at Temple and live in the Temple area, you become part of Philadelphia. I tell students, ‘Treat this area like you would your home.’” “There are challenges,” he added. “We have to make sure those challenges are met.” Tookes said that to combat existing tension in the neighborhood, there needs to be more interaction – not just between students and the community, but between the community and Temple’s police force. He suggested police officers in the area should be more “involved with the community” to prevent crime, instead of “congregating” on street corners. In order to stop suspicious activity in the community, Tookes said police officers should get to know residents by name. “Most [community members], if we were telling the truth, would say that they are for the students,” Tookes added. “We want some presence as well. It would be nice if a police officer would pull up and say, ‘Hey Brother Fred, how are you, how are you doing?’” Tookes said he notices a lack of police presence specifically inside local businesses in both North Philadelphia and his own neighborhood of Yorktown. “We in the community, we don’t see [the police],” Tookes said. “They don’t stop by here. They don’t stop by businesses. They don’t stop by African-American communities. … Be fair to everybody. Give everybody a fair shake.” But Andrea Swan, who is a lifelong Philadelphian, disagrees. She said she believes there

a color,” Bonaparte said. “I don’t think [students] feel fear, it’s just that certain times you’re on the wrong block and the wrong people get their hands on things, and they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Crimes that do happen on students in the community are probably because they’re doing things they shouldn’t do, not all the time, but some of the time.” Both Bonaparte and Swan said they are aware of the negative stigma that Temple carries because of its location. Like Tookes, Swan said she hopes tension can be eased through increased interaction. Andrea Seiss is the senior associate dean of students and co-chairs the Good Neighbor Initiative. The program, which started in 2011, stems from the university’s Good Neighbor Policy, which advocates and arranges community service projects and works to increase dialogue between students and their neighbors. Seiss said as Temple has transitioned from a commuter to a largely-residential campus, tension between the university and the community has become more prevalent. She added that students who started the initiative sensed frustration from community members and wanted to implement a program that would not just be about policies or rules for students and residents, but a “cultural change.” Captain Jeffrey Chapman, in his 29th year with Temple’s police department, said it’s often difficult for students to build relationships with their neighbors when there is such frequent turnover. One method to fix that problem, he added, could be to better prepare and inform underclassmen in residence halls of effective ways in which they can build relationships with their neighbors. Tookes said he’s not familiar with the Good Neighbor Initiative, but Seiss said she has experienced a back-and-forth exchange with community members. “We were hearing two different things – we were hearing students saying that there were safety issues, but we were also hearing students say, ‘I do want to get to know my neighbor,’” Seiss said. “Then we were hearing neighbors say, ‘Well, our impression of Temple students is really that they’re disruptive and they just don’t care about us.’”

‘CENTER CITY NORTH’

There’s a joke around Temple’s police station that whenever someone doesn’t know what to do when a call comes through, the call will be transferred directly to Eileen Bradley. “That’s why I always keep my phone with

me,” she says. Bradley is engraved in the university community. She has grown with it and become a part of it throughout her decades-long career. She plans events like an annual 5K run, meets weekly with representatives from Temple’s Student Government and oversees many university-wide initiatives aimed to boost campus safety and community relations. Many would say Bradley personifies the best of what he university’s police department has to offer. Someday, she said, she would like to open up a gym for low-income women. For now, though, she is still very much focused on the present. “I can sit up here with graphs and say ‘Crime’s gone down,’ but you can say, ‘Well, I don’t feel that,’” Bradley said. “So it’s my job to make you feel safe.” That job is not always an easy one, as the perception of safety varies for many throughout the university community. Evan Mallon is seeking counseling through Temple’s Wellness Resource Center after realizing his behavior was drastically affecting his day-to-day life. After being mugged earlier this semester, he began exhibiting signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. He said he has tried not to think of himself as a target, but a part of a community in need of revitalization. While he said police responded quickly and fairly, there’s a problem with the interaction, or lack thereof, on the streets. “I don’t know that there’s anything Temple can do,” Mallon said. “I have a feeling it’s more of an economic problem in the area that needs to be solved. … If there was more of a reason to be out on those streets – other than walking to and from campus – having more eyes on the streets would encourage a safer environment.” “If there was more business distribution in North Philadelphia, which sounds crazy because it’s such an odd area to develop, I feel like that’s the only thing,” he added. “… I don’t think the solution is more police.” Bradley, Charlie Leone and Jeffrey Chapman of Temple Police, along with Captain Robert Glenn and Lieutenant Dennis Gallagher of the 22nd District all agree Temple is safe. The relationship between Philadelphia police and Temple is strong – the school has the largest university police force in the country and many programs designed to strengthen student safety – adding to the “layers of protection” that Leone speaks so fondly of. Still, some like Bradley say more could be done. In the future, she sees weekly meetings between students and neighbors, more equipment like bikes and police cars, orientations with the community or working toward getting the funding to get three community police officers on every shift. Rumors continue to swirl regarding a football stadium to be built on or near Main Campus – a structure that, officers say, has the potential to dramatically change the area. While there would be challenges – Chapman named parking and traffic as one of the biggest hurdles – such a facility could create more jobs and also provide a space for use by members of the community, potentially creating a gateway for the university to improve its relationship with surrounding residents. Glenn and Gallagher said a football stadium on Main Campus is something that could “create a sense of ownership for the students,” and added that such a venue could be for the better. More importantly, it could transform the area into what Gallagher called “Center City North,” an evolution of the area that would undoubtedly change the historic Cecil B. Moore community. Until then, the biggest concern among all officers has been unanimous: safety. “The perception from students is that we’re only out there to stop them from drinking and the neighbors think we’re only out there to protect the students and we don’t care about the neighbors,” Leone said. “So, that’s what we’ve been doing changing that mindset. What I tell students is that we’re doing both. We want to keep you safe, that’s number one, but we also want you to be a good neighbor and we also don’t want you to put yourself at risk.” * editor@temple-news.com ( 215.204.6737 T @TheTempleNews