Student Government meeting of Oct. 28

Temple University Alumni Association will be holding 21 events on one day across eight states and out of two of Temple’s international campuses Christine Brady, director of alumni offices said. Brady discussed the event with an audience of roughly 200 people at the Temple Student Government general assembly meeting in room 200c of the student center on Oct. 28.

Brady, the only guest speaker of the meeting, explained that students are invited and encouraged to attend any number of the 11 events TUAA is hosting in Philadelphia as part of the Global Day of Service on Nov. 9.

The day of events is intended to demonstrate how the Temple community can change the world, according to the event web page. Participants can RSVP to any number of the Global Day of Service related events on this web page.

Chris Carey, director of student activities, was scheduled to speak next but was not present at the meeting.

The director announcements were held next with Evan Raines, TSG director of campus life and diversity, starting off. Raines announced collaboration with Temple NAACP to hold an event to discuss self-segregation. This event is scheduled to be in room 217d of the student center at 7 p.m. on Nov. 12.

After the announcements, Student Body President Darin Bartholomew led the open forum on the topic of instituting an honor code. These are a group of student-made rules which are in place at other universities such as Harvard, Penn State, and UPenn, aimed at keeping students academically honest.

Students seemed interested with the exception of a few who questioned the point of instituting a code all together.

“There’s no problem in holding ourselves to a high standard,” Bartholomew said after the meeting ended.

The meeting came to a close after the organization announcements.

The next TSG meeting will be held Nov. 4 in room 200c of the student center at 4 p.m. Dr. Peter Jones, senior vice provost, will be speaking further about an honor code at this next meeting.

Alumna behind same-sex marriage case heading to Supreme Court

A federal lawsuit challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court was filed by a Temple alumna, the New York Times reports.

Edith Windsor, an 83-year-old alumna, has challenged the federal law, specifically a section that prohibits same-sex spouses from receiving a number of benefits. That section has caused its fair share of costly problems for Windsor, whose wife, Thea Spyer, died in 2009 (because she wasn’t considered a spouse by the IRS, she’s paid more than $600,000 in taxes).

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case last week.

Experts in the Times report seem to think Windsor’s story – specifically the emphasis on a perhaps-unequal tax level – will resonate with members of the highest court. How do you think the Supreme Court will stand on the issue?