Author Archives: John Moritz

Campus planner meets with students on Visualize Temple

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Representatives from SmithGroupJJR, the architectural panning firm hired to develop the Visualize Temple campaign, met with students on Tuesday night in the Architecture Building to hear ideas for the the university’s next master plan.

Douglas Kozma, the principal campus planner for SmithGroup, led a slideshow explaining to students the various factors SmithGroup is looking at in planning their outline. The presentation included graphic presentations displaying the concentration of residential housing, classrooms, and faculty offices around Main Campus.

Based on the data presented, Kozma said that the group had concluded that general and liberal arts activities were focused near the Bell Tower area on campus. The campus map outlined the area around Norris Street as the creative center on campus, 12th Street as the technological corridor and the south of campus as the hub of professional studies. Kozma said that Broad Street represents the public face of campus.

When asked what they saw as the future of Main Campus, students responded with a variety of answers including greater integration with other city and regional campuses, more green space, organic and healthy dining options and better transportation services.

“A master plan, if done well, should address cars, bikes, buses and trains,” Kozma said.

Sibia Ranjbar, a PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering, said that Temple needed to improve services for graduate students. Ranjbar suggested that in building the new library, the designers include resources specifically geared towards researchers.

Other students said the university needs to do better at reaching out to the surrounding community and easing relations between the growing student population living off-campus and local residents.

Some suggestions proposed by the students included building more on-campus housing and shopping.

Kozma reiterated that no plans as part of the Visualize Temple campaign include expanding on the current footprint.

Kozma did say that SmithGroup has discovered that there are no legal restrictions against building a bridge across Broad Street, though there appeared to be an unwritten rule.

Another part of SmithGroup’s presentation included the idea of placing the new library in the current location of Barton Hall, which is to be demolished after the new Science and Technology Building is finished.

“I think if you don’t consider the library the center of campus then the university is doing something wrong,” said Nick Kokiko, a senior sports recreation management major.

The university is expected to unveil the Visualize Temple master plan this fall.

Old-time fight song sung on “Boardwalk Empire”

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Fans of the HBO show “Boardwalk Empire” may have recognized a few chords from the fourth season’s premier on Sunday, when one of the characters sang a 1920s era version of the Cherry and White Fight Song.

A scene in Sunday’s episode “New York Sour” shows William Thompson (played by Kevin Csolak), the son of Eli Thompson, apparently returning home to New Jersey from Temple and singing the fight song for his family, including the show’s main character Nucky Thompson (played by Steve Buscemi).

The song is a historic incarnation of the modern fight song called “Fight Temple, Fight!” The character sings the lost verse “Fight Temple fight on/ Fight with all your might/ Fight for the Cherry and White/ Keep our colors high/ Roll the ball and hit the line/ All the Temple stars will shine/ Skill and courage win the game/ Fight on Temple fight.”

Later in the scene, Nucky Thompson departs telling William Thompson and his family to “fight for the Cherry and the White.”

The show follows a group of historical gangsters and is set in Prohibition Era Atlantic City, N.J.

Temple rises four spots in US News ranks

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In the U.S. News and World Report’s annual college rankings published today, Temple rose four spots from last year’s report, moving from 125th among national universities to 121st.

The university’s ranking remained the same among pubic universities, placing at 60th. The Fox School of Business’ graduate program fell six spots to 58th, while the College of Education’s rose six spots to 47th. The Beasley School of Law rose two spots to 56. Temple’s medical school fell four spots to 51.

U.S. News and World report’s rankings are calculated on a variety of factors including selectivity of admissions, financial resources, graduate performance and as well as evaluations by high school guidance counselors and administrators in peer institutions.

Crowds flock to Liacouras Center to see Fall Out Boy

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Fall Out Boy’s “Save Rock and Rock Roll” tour brought crowds from around the state to the Liacouras Center Sunday night, where the band performed with Twenty One Pilots and Panic! at the Disco.

Outside the arena, where the doors opened at 5:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. concert, Sam Tocket, and her friend Megan Presta, both 19, waited to see their “favorite childhood band” for the first time.

However, it wasn’t the main act that brought the two Douglas Education Center students from outside Pittsburgh to Philly.

“I really came to see Twenty One Pilots to be honest,” Presta said.

Farther down the line, University of Pennsylvania students Emma Kaufman, a 21-year-old senior, and Joanna Heinz, a 20-year-old junior, said they were pleased to not have to travel far to see the band.

“We used to listed to Fall Out Boy when we were younger and we were pretty pumped to see they were coming [to Philadelphia],” Kaufman said.

While Heinz said she was excited to hear songs off of the band’s newest album, which is also the tour’s namesake, Kaufman said she wanted to hear the older ones that she listened to when she was younger, including “Sugar, We’re Goin Down.”

The concert is the fourth stop of the 15-city tour continuing through September.

Temple student dies in AC car crash

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A 25-year-old Temple student died in a car accident yesterday, Sept 2 in Atlantic City, the Press of Atlantic City website reported.

Issac Baggs, a senior journalism student, was transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus in Atlantic City, shortly after he was involved in a single-car crash on Route 30 around 3:30 p.m., the website reported.

He was pronounced dead at 4:18 p.m.

Man killed by punch on 17th

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A 49-year-old male died after being punched in face by a 18-year-old male on the 1600 block of North 17th Street earlier this morning. Philadelphia plain-clothes police officers witnessed the event and chased down and arrested the suspect, Charlie Leone, acting executive director of Campus Safety Services said.

Leone said the officers apprehended the suspect on the 1500 Block of Bouvier Street around 1 a.m. The victim was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 2 a.m.

According to a report by ABC6, the teenage suspect is facing homicide charges.

Ambler safe after alerts of armed individual, CSS says.

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Temple’s Ambler Campus is safe and students are advised to continue their schedules as normal after reports of an armed individual in a parking lot were deemed not credible, Deputy Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said.

Shortly before 1 p.m. Friday afternoon, Leone said an administrator at the campus offices received a phone call warning of an armed individual in the parking lot. Temple and Upper Dublin Township Police investigated and found no such individual.

The campus was not locked down, Leone said, and no alert was issued to students until a general TU Advisory was issued throughout the student body notifying them of the incident shortly after 3 p.m.

While no official lockdown was issued, Leone said there was unofficial communication between the Ambler staff about staying inside.

Leone said that the campus was never in danger and CSS only chose to issue the alert after they received numerous calls from students who had heard rumors and inquired whether it was safe to return to class.

Crime Logs 8/26-8/27

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An incident of public drunkenness resulted in an arrest on the 1300 block of West Norris Street at 12 a.m. Monday, Aug. 26.

A burglary was reported to have occurred between the hours of 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23 and 8 a.m. Monday Aug. 26 in Annenberg Hall. No arrests have been made.

An incident of harassment was reported on Monday afternoon to have occurred at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 25 on the 2100 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made.

A bike was reported stolen on the 1700 block of North Broad Street between the hours of 3:30 p.m. and 5:50 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 26. No arrests have been made.

A theft was reported at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 27 on the 1700 block of Susquehanna Avenue.

An incident of criminal mischief was reported on the 1900 block of North Broad Street between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 26. It was reported the next day, no arrests have been made.

Crime Logs for July 11, 2013

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Main Campus

There was an arrest for underage consumption on the 2100 block of North Broad Street at 3:00 a.m. July 11.

There was an arrest for defiant trespass on the 1200 block of Polett Walk shortly after 5:00 a.m. July 11.

There was an incident of harassment reported on the 1800 block of North 10th Street at 6:40 a.m. July 11. No arrests have been made.

A theft from auto was reported on the 2000 block of North 10th Street between 10:30 p.m. July 10 and 9:00 a.m. July 11. No arrests have been made.

An incident of criminal mischief was reported to have occurred at 8:00 p.m. July 9 at University Village. No arrests have been made.

Health and Sciences Campus

An incident of harassment was reported to have occurred at Boyer Pavilion at 2:15 p.m. July 11. No arrests have been made.

A bike theft was reported to have occurred between 4:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. July 11 on the 3400 North Broad Street. No arrests have been made.

Police looking for off-campus robbery suspects

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Police are looking for suspects in the robbery of a man in a wheelchair several blocks off Main Campus on June 10.

In a press release, police said that a 39 year old man was robbed in his home on the 2300 block of N. 13th St. around 11:20 a.m. Two suspects knocked on the door and forced their way in when the victim opened it. Police say the man was pistol whipped before the suspects flipped him out of his chair, punched and kicked him, and stole $30 from his pocket before being scarred of by another knock on the door.

Police described the suspects as black males, 25-30 year of age, with Sunni beards. The first suspect was described as being around 6 foot, wearing a dark t-shirt and pants. The second suspect was described as 5 ft. 6 in., wearing a dark polo jacket, dark blue jeans and light colored sneakers.

Police have a surveillance video of the suspects fleeing south on Park Avenue and then east on Dauphin Street.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Philadelphia Police Central Detective Division at 215-686-3093.