This Friday Temple Students for Justice in Palestine held an open mic at Clark Park for a night of music, comedy, food and hookah. This is the organizations first event of the year and the turn out was huge.

This afternoon Muslims for Life handed out pamphlets along Avenue North at Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue. The group was promoting a blood drive to benefit victims of Sept . 11. Muslims for Life is affiliated with Muslims for Peace.

What else does warm, sunny weather bring out other than flip flops and huge crowds on Beury Beach? Acoustic music — and lots of it. Many students choose to camp out on Liacouras with guitars, tambourines, whistles and what have you, but I found this trio jamming outside the Student Center.

Jonathan Swift (center) a Boyer School of Music 2010 grad said he made his way to Main Campus today to hang out and play some music with friends. Even though he graduated last year he still lives just a few blocks away. He said they often can be found on Liacouras but had attempted to relocate to the second floor hallway of the Student Center West, until they were asked to leave.

“I figured we’d get kicked out eventually but it was worth a try — we just sounded so good in there,” Swift said.

His jam sesh accompaniment included sophomore Matt Leonetti (left) and junior Education major Brendan Salazar.

Stay tuned in to Broad and Cecil for more Campus Beats.

This morning, around 6 a.m. students living on 15th Street between Master Street and Thompson Street were awoken to a blaring loud speaker announcement by the city of Philadelphia to move your car. Around three to four trucks lined the street and began what looked like a move and tow derby. Although signs were posted on light posts to remove parked cars from this area, they weren’t in full view. About five to 10 cars were towed, but the City of Philadelphia spared many residents a headache by moving parked cars to the next block south of Thompson Street, instead of taking them to the lot. I’m not sure what construction is planned, but it’s causing an inconvenience to residents.

This would be a good time for to you pat yourself on the back for going to Temple, which is a nonprofit university (although it’s fair to say that, generally, higher education is a business).

New data released Monday by the Department of Education shows the highest percentage of students  defaulting on loans in more than a decade, reports the Huffington Post.

There are two large problems to blame. One is that students, who  are often young adults, aren’t aware of the potential financial ramifications of the true cost of college–and most don’t consider what could happen if one drops out of school. The lack of education leads to the second problem: For-profit schools make up the majority of those students who default on their loans.

While some blame for-profit schools, there is little incentive for for-profit schools to invest more in its students. For-profits schools are, after all, for profit. They’re in it to make money, like a business, and is a business model that has apparently been working. If a student obtains a degree or drops out, it’s still on the student to pay up. If a s student obtains a liberal arts degree and ends up working as a barrister making close to minimum wage, same deal. The school is still expected to get paid.

So schools have little incentive to actually care what happens to its students. As long as these for-profit schools enroll a large number of freshmen (expecting that a significant portion may drop out), they’re going to still make bank. A student’s future doesn’t have much stake in the school.

But some Australian schools are investing in their students a little differently. In some Aussie schools, higher education is free until they graduate, when students must fork over a percentage of their salaries after graduating. They call it a graduation surtax.

This gives universities a real incentive to give a damn about its students. And if this were the case for public universities, it would give a larger reason to promote and invest in college degrees, as well.

The hawk sticker attempts to protect real birds from dying by flying into the glass of the student center. Other hawk silhouettes keep watch on other Temple buildings with large pieces of glass. Unfortunately, the sticker on the student center has failed to guard the building