DIAZ CAMPAIGN COURTS ACTOR AS SPONSOR
The Daily News and The Next Mayor 2015 reported Friday that mayoral candidate and Temple trustee Nelson Diaz is seeking a Hollywood presence to boost the publicity of his campaign, which is trailing most other candidates in fundraising.
According to the report, workers for Diaz’s campaign were trying to connect with the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, run by actor Jimmy Smits, known for playing Nero on the TV show “Sons of Anarchy” and Senator Bail Organa in the “Star Wars” prequel films.
The campaign considered involving Hispanic celebrities like the half-Puerto Rican Smits, who grew up in Brooklyn and Puerto Rico, to bring in more Latino votes.
But Carol Marshall, Smits’ publicist, told the outlets that she was unaware of any connection between Smits and the Diaz campaign.
“I don’t know anything about it, and I’m pretty much up to speed on everything Jimmy does,” Marshall told the Daily News.
-Joe Brandt
UNION PROCESS CONTINUES AFTER HEARING WITH ADJUNCTS
A hearing in Harrisburg was held on March 19 to determine the next steps in the university’s adjunct professors’ potential merger with the Temple Association of University Professionals, the university’s full-time faculty union that represents about 1,400 employees, not including those in the health professional buildings.
The hearing, which will eventually determine whether or not an election for a merger will be held, was only step one in the process. Another hearing will be held in the coming months, though a date is yet to be determined by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.
Michael Sitler, deputy provost, sent out a statement to the faculty after the hearing that said adjuncts joining TAUP “is not in the best interest of our students.”
“By attempting to merge the adjunct faculty into the full-time faculty union, TAUP places its interests over those of both the adjunct faculty and full-time faculty and does not give careful consideration to the best interests of either,” the statement said.
Art Hochner, president of TAUP, said six adjuncts testified at the hearing and discussed their workload.
“The Temple lawyers didn’t seem particularly interested in that stuff,” Hochner said. “They wanted to know technical things.”
The process started in mid-December when adjunct professors filed authorization cards with the PLRB to merge with TAUP, which they hope could better job and wage security.
Hochner said he looks forward to the next step in the process.
-Patricia Madej
HOUSE OF REPS’ BUDGET CUTS STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
The U.S. House of Representatives revealed last week that spending toward student aid would be cut more than was initially expected in a spending blueprint on March 17, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
In the House’s initial spending plan, the maximum Pell Grant would freeze for the next 10 years. On Wednesday, Republican leaders added that the blueprint would also terminate public-sector loan forgiveness, reverse a recent expansion of income-based repayment and end the in-school interest subsidy on Stafford loans, the Chronicle reported.
The cuts would save taxpayers about $61 billion during the next 10 years, according to budget estimates. The Chronicle reported last April that House Republicans proposed freezing the Pell Grant and failed – but that was before Republicans controlled both chambers in Congress.
At a Senate Budget Committee hearing last Wednesday, student protesters interrupted the meeting holding signs reading “Dreams not Debt” and “Student Aid Crisis,” while chanting “No cuts, no fees, education should be free.”
The Senate’s budget blueprint, which was released last Wednesday, proposed not to freeze Pell Grants – but like the House bill, it would end mandatory money for the program, which makes some of its supporters worried that it would face further budget cuts, according to the Chronicle’s report.
-Steve Bohnel
