Student teachers display youth’s artwork at final reception

Tyler School of Art hosted a closing reception Sunday, Dec. 2, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., for student teachers to showcase artwork they have done with their respective K-12 students during the semester.

Student teachers showed off their students’ work, including hand-crafted jewelry, ceramic creations, paintings, sculptures and even strategically designed cardboard chairs.

The final show was put together by the faculty of the art education department and the student art teachers.

According to an email Art Education Program Head Jo-Anna Moore sent out to the art teachers, K-12 students and their families after the event, approximately 400 people were in attendance.

Celebrate in green

St. Patrick’s Day is similar to Halloween, that is, it’s celebrated for an entire month by most, especially college students.

Whether you already attended State Patty’s Day in Happy Valley, Scranton’s Parade Day or Philadelphia’s own parade celebration last Sunday, don’t miss out on the festivities happening on the real day for the Irish – this Saturday, March 17.

And it looks like we’re all lucking out with the 70 degree weather that is predicted.

…Now that calls for a McDonald’s Shamrock Shake.

Since St. Patrick’s Day isn’t on a week day this year, it’s the perfect time to leave Main Campus and explore other areas. Just get your homework done first, because you probably won’t be feeling well on Sunday.

Mad River in Manayunk is hosting its first annual Pattypalooza, an all-day indoor music festival starting at 11 a.m. this Saturday, March 17. Featured artists include Go Go Gadjet, Split Decision, Stellar Mojo and more. An outdoor deck bar and gazebo will be open and drink specials will be offered. See more about the event at madrivermanayunk.com.

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by honoring the heritage and accomplishments of Irish souls at Laurel Hill Cemetery with a tour starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Sample Irish food and beer after the event let by Jerry McCormick and Bill Doran. See more on the website thelaurelhillcemetery.org.

If you missed last week’s parade in Philadelphia, head up to New York Saturday morning for the 251st annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, starting at 44th Street. Getting to experience our country’s oldest Irish tradition will surely be worth the $13 MegaBus ticket. Find out more information on nycstpatricksparade.org.

There are many Irish pubs and bars participating in St. Patty’s Day specials. Check out PubCrawls.com to find out more about the world’s largest pub crawl and its events offered in Philly.

But don’t lose your green beads just yet — the fun doesn’t  stop until after next weekend.

Continue celebrating in Washington, DC next Saturday, March 24 at the National ShamrockFest. This year, Gavin Degraw, Dropkick Murphys, Carbon Leaf, Scythian and more will perform at the live music festival from 1 to 9 p.m at RFK Stadium. Check out shamrockfest.com for details and ticket prices.

Can’t get to DC? Take Amtrak to our state’s capitol, Harrisburg, to see the March 24 annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, starting at 2 p.m. See harrisburgirishparade.com for more information.

Posted in A&E

Doubleheader: Show your Temple Spirit Saturday

This Saturday, Feb. 11 show your Temple spirit by attending the basketball doubleheader at the Liacouras Center. Both Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams will be playing, with the Women’s team starting at 5:30 p.m. against UMass. The Men’s team will take on A-10 rival Xavier at 9 p.m. in a nationally televised game on ESPN2. And don’t forget to wear your white!

Every Temple student is eligible to receive a free ticket to the doubleheader, as long as tickets last. Just show your ID at the Liacouras Center Student Entrance the night of the games.

For non-Temple affiliates, visit the Temple Basketball website at www.owlsports.com

Lynda.com spares future headaches for students

Lynda.com, a website focused on creating quality how-to content with 900 courses and more than 56,000 tutorials, has recently swept the hearts of Temple students.

Computer Services signed a contract with Lynda.com, a website providing free tutorials organized by subject software and expert instructors on video editing, business, photography, web design, graphic design and much more.

The organized and easily navigated website it now conveniently located on all current student’s TUportal pages. With this availability, students – especially “technologically-deficient” ones like me – might spare a few headaches, tears, Advil and sleep-deprived nights at the TECH center.

Ready to Rage: Dayglow 2012

It looks like the craze has returned to Philly.

Dayglow is back with an all new show: L!FE IN COLOR.

According to the Dayglow Philadelphia Facebook page, there will be improved paint cannons that shoot more than 100 feet into the crowd, a brand new laser show and refined stage and lights to enhance everyone’s Dayglow experience.

This time, the event will take place at The Festival at Penn’s Landing on 121 north Columbus Blvd. on April 13, 2012. The headliners are still waiting to be announced.

Tickets went on sale today at noon, with prices ranging from at least $50 for general admission to more than $90 for VIP.

Visit Dayglow Online to find out more about the new music culture sweeping our nation:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Youtube

Posted in A&E

South Africa SCT Study Away Program Suspended

The inaugural South Africa 2011 summer program, led by journalism professor Dr. Shenid Bhayroo, achieved more than Temple’s SCT ever thought possible.

Eleven journalism and research students conducted stories, produced news videos and documentaries, while completely embracing an entirely new culture more than 15,000 miles away.

News stories were published on the Department of Journalism’s news website, www.philadelphianeighborhoods.com, and the series itself was a finalist for the EPPY (Editor & Publisher) award in the Best College/University Journalistic or Documentary Report category. Research students presented final projects at the Global Temple Conference and student documentary work is still planned to be broadcasted on TUTV.

According to the South Africa Press Release issued this week by the dean’s office, Bhayroo and director of study away programs Erin Palmer, “conflicting commitments” have suspended the program for summer 2012.

The majority of South Africa Study Away alumni — me being one of them — are disappointed at the thought of suspending the program, and even have written several letters to the coordinators expressing our feelings toward the unfortunate decision. It truly was a life-changing opportunity that has given us so much real-life field experience. It is sad to see others unable to have the same chance.

I have high hopes that SCT reincorporates the program for 2013. It is too good to lose.

SCT South Africa students in Soweto, 2011

“SEPTA Sweethearts” share their stories

From now until February 6, SEPTA is calling for all couples who met on busses, trains or trollies to submit their love story to http://septalovestories.org/. The public will vote for the most “moving” stories, pictures and/or videos and the “SEPTA sweethearts” with the most votes will receive prizes. One prize offers a ride on the “Love Train,” a decorated Market-Frankford Line train with a perfect view of the Mural Arts Program’s “Love Letters.”

Social event website reaches Temple

Having a hard time finding something to do in your “oh so often” free time?

Then Qwicklr, a new nationwide social event planner, might be for you.

Today as I was leaving the Student Center, a nice man holding the door for me handed a blue and white business card with www.qwicklr.com written on it.

Instead of throwing it on the ground like everyone else, I figured I’d take a look at what it has to offer.

Qwicklr features social events posted by students and was created to “enhance your college experience.”

This is a great idea to get the word out about school-wide events, especially for students who don’t have Facebook or other social media accounts.

Check it out today!

Dating website attracts students

Looking for……

A wife?

Husband?

Partner?

A study buddy?

An adventure?

A friend?

A free dinner?

A relationship?

Free drinks?

A partner?

A green card?

Eternal love?

A date?

A free movie?

If so, then datemyschool.com might be for you!

Located conveniently on the sinks in the TECH Center girl’s bathroom today were copies of DMS flyers for the taking.

Because there isn’t much information on the flyer, I decided to check out the website.

The website boasts its safety and privacy, because only current undergrads, grads and alumni with verified university email addresses are able to join.

You are able to choose the schools in your area, then choose major departments and age range, etc. of people you’d be interested in – and ONLY these prospects will be able to view your profile.

I think this is a great opportunity for students who get nervous when meeting new people, bored with their lives or too busy to meet new people and, most of all, in need of some serious fun!

Electronic devices hinder new relationships

This is what our lives have come to.

Free wireless Internet in the Amtrak station, although extremely convenient, has changed the way Philadelphians are interacting.

After taking a seat on the bench to wait for my train today, I whipped out my laptop with happy intentions of scoping my social network world and checking my e-mail.

Maybe it’s because I don’t have a smart phone that free WiFi in the train station makes me one chipper college student, but as I looked around, I noticed dozens of people with their iPads, iPods and laptops out, while talking on their iPhones! Virtually no one, at least in close proximity to me, were communicating with each other.

And now, it gets even more extreme, there is free WiFi on the train – not just in the train station. I used to get so much work done for my classes on the train being cut off from the Internet.

. . .

I by no means am saying I don’t appreciate Amtrak’s efforts to give us riders free internet, heck they charge us enough for each ride – we definitely deserve it!

But, it’s important to realize – if you haven’t already – the impact our obsession with electronic devices are having on our lives. Sometimes I just want to shut off my phone, deactivate my Facebook and Twitter and forget about my e-mail every once in a while so I can enjoy peaceful, uninterrupted time with friends and family – and maybe even make a new friend during a train ride.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I did that, and I bet 99 percent of you reading this can’t either.