While no official contract has been signed, the university expects to formalize deal with the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta within days to design the next Temple University Library on North Broad Street, Assistant Vice President of Government, Community and Public Affairs Ray Betzner said.
The firm, based in Oslo, Norway, has designed projects around the world, including the the Oslo Opera House, the James B. Hunt Jr. Library at the University of North Carolina, the Bibliotheca Alexandria in Egypt and the museum pavilion at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
No design has yet been submitted for the building, which is expected to be located on North Broad Street at the current site of the Pavilion.
In March, the Board of Trustees approved a $17.5 million budget for the project’s design, and construction will be funded by $140 million from the state.
James Creedon, senior vice president for construction, facilities and management, said that the firm was selected from a pool of three candidates that were decided upon out of 30 proposals. After interviewing the three firms on August 21, a committee made up of Creedon, University Architect Margaret Carney, representatives from the Board of Trustees, the School of Architecture, the Provost’s Office and library staff, along with representatives from the state, chose to select Snøhetta for their recommendation to the state.
“They have incredible experience with libraries,” Creedon said, “they really impressed us with their ideas, and not so much with the specific idea’s of what we should do, but how they would help us reach a consensus here on what we ought to do.”
Snøhetta will partner with Stantec Consulting Services, a Philadelphia company, to design the library.
No preliminary terms to the contract have been released, including how much the university will pay the firm.
Creedon said the university will begin the first phase of the design, which is programing the university’s needs into the project, when the contract is announced. That phase will likely take place throughout the summer, Creedon said.
Monthly Archives: March 2013
TSG candidates announced at General Assembly meeting
Diamond Nation and Temple United, the two tickets competing for Temple Student Government executive positions, were introduced during “Meet the Candidates” at the General Assembly meeting yesterday, March 25.
Monday marked the first official day of campaigning for the two teams seeking to win the election scheduled for April 9 and 10.
Diamond Nation, led by candidate for student body president and junior human resources management major Anthony Torres, has set a platform on three pillars: community, opportunity and diversity.
According to Diamond Nation’s website, its mission is “to provide all students with viable and accessible opportunities, integrate the Temple and Philadelphia communities, and cultivate dynamic relationships among our diverse student.”
Candidate for vice president of services Patricia Boateng and candidate for vice president of external affairs Danube Johnson complete Diamond Nation’s ticket.
Diamond Nation will face off against Temple United led by student body president candidate Darin Bartholomew.
Bartholomew, a junior management information systems major, is joined by candidate for vice president of services Cree Moore and candidate for vice president of external affairs Sonia Galiber.
Temple United’s mission is to solve the challenges on campus through unifying the student body. “Through making information more easily accessible and representing a diverse student body, we will advocate for the Temple Community,” Temple United’s website states.
Temple United and Diamond Nation will debate next Monday, April 1, at the General Assembly meeting.
School of Medicine named second best in Philadelphia
The School of Medicine was ranked the 51st best research medical school in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report. Temple’s rank was second of all medical schools in Philadelphia behind the University of Pennsylvania, which ranked fourth.
In 2012, Temple received nearly $94 million in National Institutes of Health grants, according to the university.
Check back with The Temple News Tuesday, March 26, for a full recap of the School of Medicine’s U.S. News and World Report Ranking.
Logistics for Harrisburg trip announced at TSG meeting
Temple Student Government Student Body President David Lopez announced the final schedule for Owls on the Hill Day in Harrisburg planned for today, March 19, at Monday’s General Assembly meeting.
The group of students is scheduled to depart Main Campus at 9 a.m. today, hear from Senior Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Ken Lawrence upon arrival in Harrisburg, meet with legislatures for about two hours and return to Main Campus about 4 p.m.
Following the Owls on the Hill logistics, Director of Academic Affairs Patricia Boateng announced the creation of an academic affairs round table that will be held March 28, at 4 p.m. in Student Center Room 220.
The round table will focus on academic advising, transfer and non-traditional student experiences, the general education program and requirements for undergraduate majors.
The academic affairs round table idea stemmed from a meeting Lopez and his fellow officers had with Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Hai-Lung Dai.
At next Monday’s meeting, the candidates for the 2013 TSG elections will not only kick off their campaigns, but will also be introduced to the General Assembly.
Check temple-news.com for a full recap of yesterday’s TSG meeting.
Gimme some of Your tots, tot truck
On Sept. 10, 2011, a Twitter account named “The Tot Cart” tweeted, “A food cart. With tater tots. Just tots. Is coming. Soon. To a street corner near you. Philadelphia here we come.”
Less than two years later, the vision has come to fruition, as The Tot Cart had its grand opening in front of Speakman Hall on Saturday, March 16. The truck was scheduled to be open from 3 p.m. to midnight, but closed early at 8 p.m. due to weather conditions. Still, Julie Crist, the woman behind The Tot Truck, said she sold approximately 150 orders of tots.
“It went really well, despite the weather and students being on spring break,” Crist said. “It was a really good soft opening.”
The Tot Truck, as you might expect, serves only tots. In addition to the standard high-school cafeteria side dish, Crist’s menu offers specialty flavors, including buffalo, garlic parmesan and Indian-spiced tots. Her “drunk cheese tots,” are covered in cheese whiz, what she calls her “special cheese recipe.” Original tots cost $3 and those with toppings are $4.
Crist is a 2002 alumna of the School of Media and Communication and is employed full time by Fox School of Business as the Associate Director for the MBA program. She said she got the idea for The Tot Truck from her own experience in graduate school.
“I went to Drexel for grad school and there was a taco truck that was open from 11 p.m. to 7 in the morning and it would have students lined up in front of it,” Crist said. “I started getting the idea of doing something similar but didn’t know what to do, so I started messing with tater tot recipes.”
The truck will be open only on Saturdays from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Crist said she might take the next couple of weekends off as she waits for the weather to clear up before doing another “full blown” opening on the first weekend of April.
Crist said the process she had to go through to get her own food truck on campus took about two years. She had to buy a truck, get approved by the Department of Health, take a food safety class and acquire a permit from the Department of Licenses for a “non-permanent vending location,” in addition to a vending license.
“It’s a lot of paperwork,” Crist said.
Why do all of that work for tater tots? Crist said she wanted to appeal to the schoolboy and schoolgirl in everyone.
“Why not tater tots?” she said. “Any type of person likes tater tots, anyone from a 4-year-old kid, to a college student, to adults. People have a nostalgic thing about tater tots. They were served them in the cafeteria in elementary school. I think they’re one of those things. People of all types like them.”
#Tubigchairs
- While this year’s Groudhog’s Day promised an early spring, the real sign on Main Campus that warmer weather is on its way soon is the return of the Adirondack chairs.Students making their way back to Main Campus from spring break yesterday were greeted with two oversized chairs that replicated the ones found throughout areas on campus – one cherry colored, one white colored with #TUbigchairs printed on the chairs.
“Sometimes you have to see things through the eyes of people that are students,” said James Creedon, the senior vice president for construction, facilities and operations.
Creedon got the idea after his son texted him a photo of a pool and hot tub retailer that had a giant Adirondack chair in a display. Since Creedon’s son, who isn’t a Temple student, knew Adirondack chairs were laid out throughout Main Campus he suggested that Creedon should commission the chairs and include a hashtag to make them more interactive.
“I sent the picture down to our facilities management [team, which] runs our carpentry shop, and the guys down there loved it,” Creedon said. “Next thing I know we’re up and rolling.”
The large chairs were installed on Saturday, March 16, before classes resumed and that same day people began using the hashtag. Employees of the admissions office took the first picture that appeared under #TUbigchairs.
“We were at [the men’s basketball game] on Friday night, and [my son] told me, ‘Oh, it started!’ and he showed me stuff that was coming in over Twitter,” Creedon said.
The hashtag has also yielded results on Instagram, and there is even one video posted to Vine including the hashtag.
“Temple’s student body [and faculty] has shown time and time again that it’s very engaged in social media and very vibrant,” said Hillel Hoffmann, director of university communications.
Hoffmann said the first tweet with the hashtag was from the Temple Twitter account, @TempleUniv, on March 13, which teased to the return of the chairs.
One criticism the chairs have incited on Twitter is that the university could have spent money on more productive things. One tweet from @Its_DevinBurke said, “#TUbigchairs screams poor money management.”
Creedon said the total cost of both chairs was $400. The chairs were designed to seat four people, but more than that can be supported by the structures. The chairs are seven feet high and weigh between 250 to 300 pounds, Creedon said.
Temple Rome students witness Papal Conclave
Amongst the crowd gathered yesterday in St. Peter’s Square to witness the announcement of the next pope, stood several Temple students studying abroad in Rome who were able to witness the historic event first hand.
Several of these students spoke to The Temple News about their experiences, sharing tales of crying, cheering, and sheer excitement after the white smoke began pouring out of the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel.
If Mike Madeja, who is spending his spring semester at Temple Rome could describe the event in one word, it would be “surreal.”
The conclave, which ended on March 13 after just two days and five rounds of voting, elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina to become Pope Francis.
The conclave was scheduled following the stunning resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 28.
Two Temple students in the square, identified only as Mike and Mark, were interviewed on national television by NBC News.
For the complete story and more student testimonies, check the print copy of The Temple News on Tuesday, March 19.
John Moritz can be reached at john.moritz@temple.edu, or on Twitter @JCMoritzTU.
TSG gears up for Owls on the Hill
Temple Student Government is preparing to hold it’s third annual Owls on the Hill day in Harrisburg on Tuesday, March 19, along with what it hopes will be a record number of student attendees and the Office of Government, Community and Public Affairs.
TSG Student Body President David Lopez said that he hopes 100 to 150 students will show up for the event, and that 268 have already registered online. Lopez said that last year, about 70 students showed up out of a registration of 158.
To increase turnout, Lopez and TSG reached out to students at the Ambler Campus, as well as recent alumni.
While in Harrisburg students will be split into groups of 10 to 15 and meet with state representatives or their staffs and share their Temple stories with the hope of encouraging state funding for the university.
To prepare for this year’s event, TSG founded the Owl Advocate Academy to train student leaders for the event. The 45 students who went through the academy this year will help lead the student groups that traverse the state capitol lobbying for higher education funds.
In February, Gov. Tom Corbett proposed to flat fund the university at $139.9 million, for the commonwealth’s 2013-14 fiscal year budget. The budget must still be passed by the State Senate and House of Representatives.
While Lopez said that the flat funding is better than the governor’s previous proposed cuts, TSG is not content with flat funding and will continue to fight for Temple’s funding.
TSG is still accepting registration for the event. Students who wish to do so can at http://www.temple.edu/government/onthehill/. Transportation and lunch are provided by TSG.
Police identify third suspect in robbery, assault of students
City police today publicly identified the third suspect sought in connection with last week’s robbery and assault of four Temple students as 24-year-old Elijah Washington.
Elijah Washington is the third suspect sought in the robbery and assault of four Temple students last week. | COURTESY PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT
The Philadelphia Police Department in a press release asked for public assistance in locating Washington, who may be in the area near the Wilson Park Housing Development, at 25th and Jackson streets, or in Southwest Philadelphia, near 52nd and Pentridge streets.
Last Monday, March 4, three men followed a Temple student to her off-campus apartment around 7:30 p.m. on the 1800 block of North 18th Street.
When she opened the door to her apartment, a man stuck a black revolver to her head and told her to keep walking, authorities said. After they gained entry to the apartment, one man duct taped the student while the other two bound the other three roommates in the front bedroom and took cash, computers, credit cards and cell phones from the students, police said.
Days after the incident, city police identified two other suspects in connection with the robberies: Tyree Johnson, 19, and Malcolm Murray, 18, both of North Philadelphia, were charged with aggravated assault, robbery and false imprisonment and related offenses.
Their bail was set at $800,000 each and they are scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on March 21, Tasha Jamerson, spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, said.
Anyone with information on Washington’s whereabouts are asked to contact the PPD’s Central Detective Division at 215-686-3093, or dial 911.
Police release names of two arrested in robbery of four students
Police identified two suspects who were arrested Wednesday in connection with Monday’s robbery of four roommates west of Main Campus.
Tyree Johnson, 19, and Malcolm Murray, 18, of North Philadelphia were charged with aggravated assault, robbery and false imprisonment and related offenses. Their bail was set at $800,000 each and they are scheduled to have a preliminary hearing will be held on March 21, Tasha Jamerson, spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, said.
On Monday, three men followed a Temple student to her off-campus apartment around 7:30 p.m. on 1800 block of North 18th Street. When she opened the door to her apartment, a man stuck a black revolver to her head and told her to keep walking, police said. After they gained entry to the apartment, one man duct taped the student while the other two bound the other three roommates in the front bedroom and took cash, computers, credit cards and cell phones from the students, police said.
A third suspect is still at large, though police said Wednesday that they know who the suspect is.
