1.27 issue: News in brief

DIVERSITY CENTER SET TO OPEN

“The Burrow” – a space that will be home to Temple Student Government’s TUnity statement and where students can learn more about diversity – is set to have a soft opening next month.

Located at 2024-2028 N. Broad St., the furnished multi-room facility will offer a kitchen space, equipped with a coffee maker and refrigerator. It will offer plenty of seating, conference tables, rooms to work in, and a security desk. The huge outdoor area features a gazebo and plenty of trees.

Rhonda Brown, Temple’s associate vice president of the office of institutional diversity, equality, advocacy and leadership, said the space was needed in order for students to openly talk about tough topics concerning diversity.

“There has to be a place where people can have hard conversations,” Brown said.

Brown added that “The Burrow” was chosen as the name for the location because of Temple’s mascot.

“A burrow officially is an underground owl’s nest. Because we service [Temple] Owls, [the name] made sense,” she said.

Carmen Phelps, director of student engagement, said she expects the space to bring the diverse student body together.

“I’d really like to see it used as a place where students can do coalition building, work together, and collaborate,” Phelps said. “The point is for it to be a multifunctional space. We want to be able to measure the impact that all the programming will have on student development.”

Brown and Phelps said they hope to see President Theobald and the Board of Trustees among others at the official opening of the space, which will take place sometime after Spring Break.

-Sequoia Hall

STUDENTS REELING FROM FIRE

An electrical fire burned through 1534 N. 18th St., an off-campus apartment that housed several students, on the night of Jan. 16.

Evan Mallon, a senior visual art major with a concentration in illustration, found out via a voicemail from his roommate that his apartment sustained damage.

The three-floor building was drowned with smoke. The stairs were destroyed and windows were blown out.

Mallon and his roommate live on the second floor in the rear of the apartment. The fire has not affected his living space, unlike some of the other floors.

“You can’t really get in there as far as I can tell,” Mallon said. “I called the landlord’s daughter and she’s letting me in to go get stuff because I didn’t know I was going to be out of my house and home for a while.”

“I guess mine is one of the only habitable ones so far,” he added.

Michael McKelvey, a sophomore political science and environmental studies double major, said he was home taking a nap when the fire alarm woke him around 5 p.m.

 “When I woke up there was fire coming out of the electrical sockets near the washer and dryer,” McKelvey said. “There was a lot of smoke coming out of the basement in the boiler room. We opened the door and there were some boxes that were on fire.”

McKelvey added that the fire department arrived minutes later.

The apartment’s landlord, who is currently not living in the United States, has been unavailable for the tenants to communicate with since the fire.

Because McKelvey said he doesn’t know how safe the house is, he and his three roommates have been in the process of finding a new living space.

 “It’s pretty unsettling. I just don’t know how safe the house was,” he said. “There wasn’t a fire escape for the people upstairs and the stairs burned down. That’s kind of terrifying.”

-Emily Rolen

BOT APPROVES NEW DEPARTMENT

In public meetings on Thursday, Jan. 22, three committees of Temple’s Board of Trustees – Academic Affairs, Budget and Finance and Executive – announced and approved the creation of a new Department of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery in the School of Medicine.

The new department will consolidate three pre-existing sections in the Temple Lung Center and create three new sections – one for Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, one for Thoracic Surgery, and one for Lung Transplants. Thirty doctors at Temple Hospital will be transferred to the new department, five of whom will also be receiving tenure.

The Board also approved a $25.8 million allocation to the creation of the new department.

“This will consolidate all of the doctors under one roof,” said Dr. Larry Kaiser, CEO of Temple’s Health System and dean of the Medical School. “It’s an advantage to have the [lung] surgeons and the transplant [doctors] all in one place.”

Dr. Kaiser cited the growth of the lung transplant program at Temple as the reason for the creation of the new department, and stated that the new department would also make treatment more efficient for patients.

“Patients just want to get their lung disease treated,” he said. “They don’t want to see multiple doctors in multiple places.”

-Christian Matozzo

CAWLEY REMOVED FROM BOARD

In his second day in office, Gov. Tom Wolf recalled more than two dozen of former Gov. Tom Corbett’s eleventh-hour appointments, including Jim Cawley, the former Lt. Gov. who served on Temple’s Board of Trustees as an ex-officio member during Corbett’s term.

Wolf spokesman Jeff Sheridan told the Inquirer that the action should not affect Wolf’s ability to govern, as he and the legislature face a $2.3 billion deficit.

“He is still confident he can work with both parties and move forward to fix the budget and better fund education,” Sheridan said. “He made it clear he did not appreciate the process – the midnight appointment. He said he was going to review it, he did, and took action.”

Wolf said in a statement that he made the decision because his “top priority as governor of Pennsylvania is to restore public trust in government.”

The move has already upset Republicans including Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman.

“The honeymoon is over,” Corman told the Inquirer. “He is not off to a flying start, for someone who said he was going to do things differently.”

Wolf’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

-Steve Bohnel

SUSPECT NABBED FOR ROBBERIES

Temple Police have apprehended a suspect in connection with two Thursday robberies.

Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said in an email Friday that 23-year-old Kareem Clancy of the 3200 block of Fox Street is being charged with two counts of robbery.

Leone said Clancy was armed with a pellet gun and approached a male student, taking his backpack which contained the student’s cell phone and wallet. There were no injuries.

Leone said the suspect was found with property from both complainants, and had attempted to discard the pellet gun, which he said was disguised to appear as a real pistol.

According to a TU Alert, the first robbery took place around 10:45 a.m. in the 1600 block of French Street, between Susquehanna Avenue and Diamond Street.

A Temple Police officer apprehended the suspect shortly after the second robbery of another student, which occurred at Carlisle and Jefferson streets shortly after the first, Leone said.

A TU Alert sent out around 2 p.m. indicated that the suspect had been apprehended.

Police are still searching for another suspect in connection with a robbery which took place around 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, when a male student was robbed near 18th and Arlington streets.

Leone said two men had approached a student in that robbery, and that one of them had a handgun.

The student in that incident surrendered his phone and wallet, but was not injured. The suspects then fled on foot east on Arlington Street, toward 17th Street.

-Lian Parsons

Store robbed near HSC

A store was robbed on the 3400 block of Germantown Avenue, near the Health Sciences Campus around 12:45 p.m.

Charlie Leone, executive director of Campus Safety Services, said a suspect was armed with a gun, which he showed to the store clerk before taking cigarettes and $150.

The suspect fled east on Russell Street, Leone said.

There were no injuries reported, and no Temple-affiliated people were involved.

Lian Parsons can be reached at lian.parsons@temple.edu or @Lian_Parsons on Twitter.

Suspect apprehended for two robberies

UPDATE: Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said in an email that the suspect who was apprehended for Thursday’s incidents is 23-year-old Kareem Clancy, who is being charged with two counts of robbery.

Temple Police have apprehended a suspect in connection with two Thursday robberies.

According to a  TU Alert, the first robbery took place around 10:45 a.m. in the 1600 block of French Street, between Susquehanna Avenue and Diamond Street.

Charlie Leone, executive director of Campus Safety Services, said in an email that the suspect was armed with a gun and approached a male Temple student. The suspect took the student’s backpack, which contained his cell phone and wallet. There were no injuries.

A Temple Police officer apprehended the suspect shortly after the second robbery of another student, which occurred at Carlisle and Jefferson streets shortly after the first, Leone said.

A TU Alert sent out around 2 p.m. indicated that the suspect had been apprehended.

Leone said the suspect was found with property from both complainants, and had attempted to discard a pellet gun, which Leone said the suspect disguised to appear as a real pistol.

The suspect will be charged with both robberies, Leone said. His name will be released when he is formally charged.

Police are still searching for another suspect in connection with a robbery which took place around 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, when a male student was robbed near 18th and Arlington streets.

Two men had approached a student in that robbery, Leone said, one of them displaying a handgun.

The student in that incident surrendered his phone and wallet, but was not injured. The suspects then fled on foot east on Arlington Street, toward 17th Street.

Lian Parsons can be reached at lian.parsons@temple.edu or on Twitter @Lian_Parsons.

1.20 issue: News in brief

BERKS ST. COMMUTER LOUNGE OPENS

A new commuter lounge located at the corner of Warnock and Berks streets opened last Monday after construction started on the project in early November.

The lounge, which can house between 40 and 60 people, requires students to swipe their Owl Card to gain access. Saige Café, an indepently-run coffee shop, is still under construction next door and will be open to the public. Temple will receive rent money from the Café, which will open next month, a spokesman said.

Gaming and television spaces, a small kitchenette, general seating and storage lockers make up the interior of the lounge, which is 1,750 square feet. According to the website for Temple’s Office of Construction, Facilities and Operations, the project cost $450,000. Its hours are 8 a.m to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday.

There are two HDTVs with cable service inside, as well as a third TV near the front door with SEPTA schedules listed along with other transportation updates and information.

The lounge was constructed by Temple’s Project Delivery Group and Olaya Studio, an architectural design firm based in University City.

-Steve Bohnel

TEMPLE CHIPOTLE TAKES PORK OFF MENU

The Chipotle on the western end of The View at Montgomery, is one of four in Philadelphia to stop serving pork.

Around a third of the restaurant’s establishments have pulled the topping from their menu, because of a standards violation by one of its major suppliers, The Washington Post reported.

Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said the supplier wasn’t adhering to the company’s standards involving animal treatment.

“This is fundamentally an animal welfare decision and it’s rooted in our unwillingness to compromise our standards where animal welfare is concerned,” Arnold told the Post.

One of the company’s missions is “serving food with integrity,” or that they use meat from animals that have not been given antibiotics or hormones. According to Chipotle’s website, the motto is more than a decade old and “one that will never end.”

-Steve Bohnel

TUH OFFERS SURGICAL IMAGING TOOL

Temple University Hospital is the first hospital in the Philadelphia region to offer a surgical imaging tool that will provide “diagnostic quality images” for use in operating rooms, the hospital announced in a press release dated Jan. 15.

Airo Mobile Intraoperative CT (computerized tomography), which is distributed by Brainlab and designed by Mobius Imaging, allows for doctors to take CT scans of their patients at more angles and positions than previous devices, because of its 107-centimeter diameter.

Airo can easily be transported throughout hospitals due to its slim design (75.5 inches tall by 90.1 inches wide), a front-facing camera, and a centrally-powered electric wheel. Dr. Michael Weaver, chair of the department of neurosurgery at Temple University’s School of Medicine, said the scanner is a great addition for Temple Hospital.

“Temple University Hospital is home to a world-class surgical team, and this new tool enhances our ability to provide our patients with top quality surgical care,” Weaver said in a university press release.

The new scanner was first installed at Duke University hospital in April of last year, after being cleared by the FDA in Sept. 2013.    

-Steve Bohnel

ADJUNCTS CRITICAL OF OBAMA PLAN

Obama’s recently proposed plan for two years of free community college could cause a problem for adjunct professors, who comprise 70 percent of all faculty members at such institutions, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Because the plan requires the federal government to pay for around three-quarters of tuition costs without an increase in money that community colleges receive per student, adjuncts fear that much of the expenses will fall on them.

“Our biggest concern about this is, is it going to be funded on the backs of adjuncts? Is it going to lead to more exploitation?” Maria Maisto, president of New Faculty Majority, an advocacy group for contingent faculty members, told the Chronicle.

The plan will be further detailed in Obama’s State of the Union address, which takes place on Tuesday night.

-Steve Bohnel

NCAA REINSTATES JOE PATERNO’S WINS

The NCAA will reinstate the 112 wins vacated by Penn State between 1998 and 2011, and the university will pay $60 million to charities serving sexually abused children in Pennsylvania as part of a new deal stemming from the fallout of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

In a statement released by the NCAA on Friday, the college athletics organization announced that it had reached an agreement with Penn State to settle a lawsuit challenging the terms of a 2012 consent decree between the two parties that was instated in the immediate aftermath of the scandal involving former Nittany Lions Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

As part of the deal, the $60 million Penn State had to pay to protect children from sexual abuse will go to charities operating within Pennsylvania, rather than nationwide, as was originally stipulated.

In addition, the reinstated wins again put the late Joe Paterno at the top of the list of winningest Division I college football coaches with 409. Paterno lost his job – which he had held since 1966 – during the hight of the scandal. He died in 2012.

The NCAA had already ended Penn State’s post-season ban and reinstated all the university’s football scholarships last year.

-John Moritz

1.13 issue: News in brief

SERVICE EVENTS PLANNED FOR MLK DAY

Temple’s Office of Community Relations has coordinated with several local organizations in preparation for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 19.

An opening ceremony for the holiday’s observance will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Girard College, on the corner of Corinthian and Girard avenues. Activities begin at 8:45 a.m., which include Human Resource Training led by Michael Robinson, a community outreach and hiring director at Temple.

Community Relations is also looking for volunteers to assist in a variety of projects at Girard, including nursing and medical students, who will work with the Department of Nursing at the Health and Wellness Fair.

Several clean-up projects are planned for the day, including ones at Berean Presbyterian Church, Mt. Zion United Methodist Church and the Penrose Recreation Center.

Temple University Black Alumni Alliance has worked with Community Relations to lead a painting, cleaning, and organization project at the Tanner G. Duckrey Elementary School, which starts at 9:30 a.m.

Those interested in volunteering should contact Community and Neighborhood Affairs Director Andrea Swan at 215-204-7409 or aswan@temple.edu.

-Steve Bohnel

BRICK ASSAULTER TO BE SENTENCED

Zaria Estes, the 15-year-old girl who pled guilty to charges in connection to the attacking of a Temple student with a brick in March, will be sentenced for the incident this Wednesday.

Estes pled guilty to charges of aggravated assault, conspiracy and possession of an instrument on Oct. 14 and was originally scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17, but that had been rescheduled.

The state dropped three additional charges of making terroristic threats, simple assault and reckless endangerment of another person. Two other girls involved in the attack were initially charged as adults, but the charges were later dropped after court proceedings.

Estes faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the aggravated assault charge.

-Steve Bohnel

FREE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROPOSED

President Obama revealed a new proposed plan that would offer two years of free community college “for everybody who’s willing to work for it,” he said in an official White House video released on Thursday.

In order for students to stay on the plan, they will be required to attend community college at least half-time while maintaining a 2.5 GPA.

Community colleges would need to offer either academic programs that completely transfer credits to local four-year colleges and universities, or occupational training programs that have high graduation rates and offer degrees and certificates that are in-demand for the workforce, according to the White House release.

If the proposal is implemented, the federal government will contribute three-quarters of the tuition cost for two years of community college, which will be around $60 billion during the next 10 years. States would need to grant the rest of the money for qualified students.

-Steve Bohnel

WEST CHESTER STUDENT’S BODY FOUND

After a 36-day search, the body of Shane Montgomery was found in the Schuylkill, not far from Kildare’s Irish Pub in Manayunk, where he was last seen on Thanksgiving.

The Inquirer reported that six volunteer divers found the body at 12:09 a.m. on Jan. 3, three to four feet deep near the riverbank. The divers, who are part of the Garden State Underwater Recovery unit, had found Montgomery’s keys 800 yards upstream on Dec. 21.

“Today we have done what we promised. We found and brought Shane home,” Montgomery’s parents posted on their Facebook page, Help Find Shane Montgomery, on Jan. 3.

Funeral services for the deceased West Chester student were held at St. John the Baptist Church on Thursday, the Daily News reported. Around 1,000 people were in attendance.

According to the Facebook page, a Memorial Cut-A-Thon will be held at Salon Glam Couture Color by Nanci Butterly on Jan. 25. Haircuts and 50/50 raffles will be offered, with all the proceeds going to the Montgomery family.

-Steve Bohnel

LESS JOBS FOR DOCTORAL STUDENTS

According to a Jan. 12 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, schools like Duke and the University of Maryland – College Park are now offering more career services for doctoral students.

Job openings for Ph.D. students are declining while more people are obtaining the level of degree, according to federal data cited in the article.

“Some faculty members in the humanities and social sciences were adamant that if you’re admitting a student to pursue a Ph.D., they should be pursuing a career in academia,” Jacqueline Looney, a senior associate dean at Duke, told The Chronicle.

“Students are not finding the positions they thought the would after five, six and seven years of Ph.D. study,” Looney said.

-Joe Brandt

Brick assaulter, 16, sentenced to prison

Zaria Estes, the 16-year-old girl convicted for striking a Temple student twice in the head with a brick last March, was sentenced Wednesday to 2 1/2 to six years in state prison, along with four years of probation and other conditions.

Estes pled guilty in October to aggravated assault, conspiracy and possession of an instrument of crime with intent to harm. Along with the confinement, she will be required to pay $400 in restitution, serve 50 hours of community service per year of court supervision, complete her GED and secure employment before her sentence is completed.

In the proceedings at the Criminal Justice Center at 13th and Filbert streets around 1:30 p.m., Estes spoke to the court toward the end of the three-hour long session, apologizing to the victim, Temple junior Abbey Luffey, for the incident, and said, among other admissions, that she is “disappointed” in her actions.

Luffey was struck once each in the back of the head and in the face, respectively, needing multiple procedures to repair a fractured jaw and extensive oral damage.

Luffey, her mother and her 21-year-old boyfriend who accompanied her at the time of the attack, were among those who testified as character witnesses.

Andrew Parent can be reached at andrew.parent@temple.edu or on Twitter @Andrew_Parent23.

Shooting near Main Campus kills 56-year-old woman

Philadelphia police are searching for a suspect in connection with a shooting that took place at 12th and Jefferson streets around 9:15 a.m today and claimed the life of a 56-year-old woman who was not affiliated with the university.

A Daily News online report indicated that the woman was shot in the back of the head. The suspected shooter was described in a TU Alert as 6 feet 2 inches tall and 220 pounds, wearing a black and gray puffy jacket and carrying a duffel bag.

The suspect, who was also described as wearing a black knit hat, was last seen heading west on Jefferson Street.

Media representatives for the city’s police force, reached around 12:30 p.m., could confirm only that a shooting had taken place in the area at 9:13 a.m. and that a female victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooting occurred near the borders of the Temple Police patrol zone, which extends east to Ninth Street and south to Jefferson Street.

Anyone with information is urged to call Philadelphia Police at 215-686-3334.

CLA Dean Teresa Soufas resigns

Teresa S. Soufas, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, resigned today “due to health reasons,” according to a memo obtained by The Temple News.

Soufas will take a sabbatical before returning to teach and pursue academic work involving Spanish literature. The memo did not specify the expected length of her time away from the university.

Temple will appoint an interim dean before starting a national search for a permanent replacement in the 2015-16 academic year.

At a time when public universities and independent colleges are facing concerns including declining enrollments in the liberal arts, President Theobald and I look forward to working with the college to develop a model for success,” Provost Hai-Lung Dai wrote in the memo.

Soufas, who has served as dean of CLA since 2007, was previously a professor at Tulane University, where she taught in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese for 21 years.

Steve Bohnel can be reached at sbohnel@gmail.com or on Twitter @Steve_Bohnel.

Fox’s online MBA earns top spot in national ranking

The Fox School of Business announced today that U.S. News and World Report, a publication known for its annual rankings of colleges and academic programs, named Fox’s Online MBA as No. 1 in the nation.

“I am pleased that U.S. News & World Report has recognized our Online MBA program as the best in the country,” Fox’s dean Moshe Porat said in a press release. “Our Online and Digital Learning team continues to deliver the best advancements in technology to a quality, online-format education.”

The program, which can be completed in as quickly as 20 months, received a “perfect score” and climbed up eight spots in the rankings from last year.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@temple.edu or on Twitter @JBrandt_TU.