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