STUDENTS RECEIVE ‘TERROR ALERT’ IN PHISHING EMAIL

Several students received phishing emails titled “Temple University Terror Alert” and “Notice of Compensation” through their Temple email accounts on Sunday morning, according to an email from Computer Services.

Both emails asked for students’ AccessNet username and password, but Computer Services stated that Temple will never ask for a student’s password in an email, confirming that both were a scam.

The “Temple University Terror Alert” message stated that the university’s “Policy Help Center” needed students to submit their information in order to prevent their email accounts from sending terror threats toward the university.

The message added that if students failed to comply, their email accounts would be deactivated, and emails sent to their inbox would be rejected.

Computer Services states that students uncertain about the legitimacy of any email should forward it to abuse@temple.edu. Students can contact the department with other questions through the TUhelp website at tuhelp.temple.edu, or call 215-204-8000.

-Steve Bohnel

PUBLIC PA. UNIVERSITIES ENDORSE TUITION FREEZE

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s board of governors voted Thursday to endorse a tuition freeze that had been proposed by Gov. Tom Wolf, under the condition that PASSHE receives an additional $45.3 million to its appropriation, according to the Associated Press.

Wolf said he was proud of the board’s decision, one that was narrowly finalized by a vote of 9-8.

“Students have borne the brunt of massive cuts over the last four years and today’s action is an important step in giving them a break from constantly rising college costs,” he said in a statement.

The $45.3 million is the first step of Wolf’s budget plan for higher education, which includes raising funding more than $140 million in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. Because of the jump in funding, he called for the 14 state-owned universities to freeze tuition, and that state-related universities keep it as low as possible.

This first installment is one of two yearly increases that would replace the $90 million cut from higher education during former Gov. Tom Corbett’s tenure. Officials said this sum would raise state funding for PASSHE by 11 percent, according to the AP.

PASSHE’s board of governors has yet to make a “final determination” concerning the initial tuition freeze among its schools. If it were implemented, about 112,000 students who attend the system’s universities would be affected, the report said.

-Steve Bohnel

TEMPLE RANKED TOP 100 IN RESEARCH SPENDING

Temple has jumped 31 spots in the latest research expenditure rankings from the National Science Foundation, according to a university press release from last week.

According to the rankings, Temple is now ranked 94th of 643 institutions, after it spent $224 million on research in Fiscal Year 2013, an increase of $86 million from the previous year.

The report includes university spending on research from both external and internal sources – including federal, state and local governments, as well as businesses, foundations and other nonprofit organizations.

Vice Provost for Research Michele Masucci said a $50 million research investment fund, announced at President Theobald’s inauguration, has played a key role in developing and improving research at Temple, as have new faculty hires. They have focused particularly on genomics and materials science research.

“These faculty members are contributing to a new culture of collaborative research, which, in turn, has allowed us to pursue funding opportunities for larger-scale grants on a more systematic basis than ever before.”

Masucci added that although research has improved greatly, there is still room to grow.

“We expect these research numbers to continue to be strong and the rankings to continue on an upward trajectory,” she said in the release.

-Steve Bohnel

DAVID BOLDT, FORMER TEMPLE ADJUNCT, 73

David Boldt, 73, a former adjunct professor who taught undergraduate and graduate courses in interpreting contemporary affairs, died Sunday in his Pasadena, California home of pancreatic cancer, the Inquirer reported.

Along with teaching at Temple, Boldt served as the editoral page editor of the Inquirer from 1988-98, part of a 28-year career at the newspaper.

Boldt was well-respected for his willingness to take on controversial topics, said former editor Maxwell E.P. King.

“David was from the beginning looked up to as a leader because of his talent, creativity, and great ability,” King told the Inquirer. “But what distinguished him was his courage. He was unafraid intellectually. That’s why [former executive editor] Gene [Roberts, Jr.] tapped him for the Editorial Board – for that courage.”

Boldt also served as an editor for the Inquirer’s Sunday magazine during the 1980s, when it won Pulitzer Prizes for feature photography in 1985 and 1986.

He is survived by his wife Kelly, his son Thomas, his daughter Julia, along with his granddaughter, brother and sister.

-Steve Bohnel

CITY ANNOUNCES GREEN ROOF TAX EXEMPTION FOR LOCAL BUSINESS

On March 26, City Council passed a bill to double Philadelphia’s Green Roof Tax Credit, according to a press release from Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown.

The bill, which was proposed by Brown, will increase the current tax credit for green roofs – which can increase the lifetime of roofs by 100-200 percent – from 25-50 percent, with a cap of $100,000.

“Green roofs bring a sizable value to the property owner and the city,” Brown said in the release. “They control stormwater, help curtail flooding, grow fresh fruits and vegetables, pump clean air back into the atmosphere and save property owners money by extending the life of the roof.

Philadelphia is one of 12 cities to currently offer such an incentive for businesses which install green roofs/stormwater management systems. Brown’s bill will go into effect July 1.

-Steve Bohnel

CHINATOWN TOWER FINANCED BY FOREIGN INVESTORS

A 23-story residential and office building is set to be built in Chinatown, the Inquirer reported Saturday.

Anthony Rodham, the brother of Hillary Clinton, has marketed the project to foreign investors, who fund similar types of construction known as EB-5 projects, which use money from these investors.

These projects have gained popularity nationwide because they provide cheap money for public-works projects and private real estate developments.

One of the projects that used this type of funding model is Temple University Health System. The current Chinatown building is headed by developer Ahsan M. Nasratullah and the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, the Inquirer reported.

Nasratullah founded the organization which provided the funds, Global City Regional Center, in 2013, and is the chief executive of Teres Holdings, a real estate development firm located on Kelly Drive.

Teres Holdings has built several properties in the city, including the stores on Liacouras Walk at Temple and the Distrito Restaurant near the University of Pennsylvania’s campus.

Construction will begin later this year, said Joseph Hoeffel, a political science professor at Temple involved with the development.

-Steve Bohnel

CCP TO OFFER FREE TUITION

The Community College of Philadelphia will offer free tuition to more than 400 area students, the Inquirer reported Sunday.

The program will be available to all seniors graduating from a Philadelphia high school this spring that also have low-enough family incomes that qualify them for Pell Grants, and meet other specific requirements.

“There are far too many students who, even with financial aid, are unable to meet the gap that exists between the financial aid they get and what final tuition would be,” CCP President Donald Generals told the Inquirer.

By its third year, officials estimate the program will allow more than 800 students to attend CCP free of tuition costs. Named the “50th Anniversary Scholars,”  Generals told the Inquirer that he hopes more people attend CCP because of it.

In order to stay on the program, Gregory Murphy – CCP’s vice president for institutional advancement and executive director of the foundation – told the Inquirer that students will have three years to complete their degree, and must retain a 2.5 GPA at the end of each academic year. To be considered, students must file their FAFSA by June 1.

-Steve Bohnel

LAW STUDENT ORGANIZATION FELL ILL AFTER BANQUET IN CHINATOWN

About 100 people suffered bouts of sickness after eating at a Chinatown restaurant on Feb. 27 during a banquet hosted by a Temple student organization, according to a philly.com report.

The Asian Pacific American Law Student Association’s event drew about 250 people to Joy Tsin Lau at 11th and Race streets. About two days afterward, several attendees experienced symptoms of food poisoning.

“Many, many people fell horribly ill,” user Antima C. wrote on restaurant-review site Yelp!. “This was the worst case of food poisoning I’ve ever witnessed,” she said. Yelp identifies users only by their first name and last initial, but philly.com identified her as Antima Chakraborty, an assistant district attorney for the City of Philadelphia.

Chi Mabel Chan, owner of Joy Tsin Lau, told philly.com she did not believe the diners got sick at her restaurant.

“It was not a problem with my restaurant,” she said. “Maybe they got cold or drank too much.”

The restaurant, well known for more than 30 years for its dim sum cuisine, has also faced several health inspection violations.

The APALSA supports Asian Pacific American law students in finding career and networking opportunities.

-Joe Brandt

AMBLER CAMPUS EXPERIENCES POWER OUTAGE, CANCELS CLASS

Temple’s Ambler Campus experienced a power outage on Friday morning, according to a TU Alert sent out around 11:45 a.m.

Ambler’s Facilities Management and Public Relations offices could not be reached for comment Monday on the cause of the outage.

Because of the outage, classes were canceled for the remainder of the day. A second TU Alert sent out at around 12:45 p.m. on Friday stated that power had been restored, but that classes and activities remained canceled for the day. The university’s shuttle service remained operational through the outage.

-Steve Bohnel

TEMPLE JAPAN STUDENTS MEET U.S. AND JAPAN’S FIRST LADIES

On March 19, Temple Japan students Shoko Ito and Aiko Shigeta met with First Lady Michelle Obama and Akie Abe, the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a joint Japan-U.S. Event on Girls Education, according a press release last week.

The event, held in the Iikura Guest House of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focused on the importance of education for women, especially between those in Japan and America.

According to the release, only a few students spoke at the roundtable discussion, including Shigeta, who said she was thankful for having the opportunity to talk with Obama and Abe.

“It was evident from the discussion that both of them are very serious about the issue of girls not having access to education, and the importance of female students like us stepping up and taking action,” Shigeta said.

“This experience has left us to reflect on the significance of the issue and the importance of solving it,” she added.

The event was part of a three-day trip in Japan for Obama, who was promoting the “Let Girls Learn” initiative – a plan that aims to better education opportunities for women worldwide – the Washington Post reported.

-Steve Bohnel

MAYORAL HOPEFUL OLIVER SLAMS ABRAHAM FOR INTERNAL POLL

After a recent poll conducted by Democratic mayoral candidate Lynne Abraham’s campaign indicated 30 percent of respondents favored the candidate above the rest, Doug Oliver released a statement on the incident.

Oliver cited his own satirical poll which put him at 60 percent, far above other candidates Jim Kenney and Anthony Hardy Williams, who were each given 10 percent. Other candidates including Abraham were given 1-percent ratings.

“The survey utilized a gym-membership registration-based sample which models the likely electorate that we chose to create,” the statement, which was primarily satire, read.

The polling results “unsurprisingly indicated whatever [Oliver] wanted them to indicate,” the release read.

The Abraham poll gave Oliver just 2 percent of the vote, while Kenney and Williams were each given 14 percent. Nelson Diaz and T. Milton Street Sr. were reported at 6 and 5 percent, respectively.

The poll also showed that Abraham drew 24 percent of African-American voters, compared with 22 percent for Williams and 7 percent for Kenney.

The Next Mayor reported Sunday that TV ads would soon be ramping up for the candidates, with Kenney and Williams ads beginning to air Friday. American Cities, a political action committee operated by three Main Line financiers, purchased $560,000 in ad space on behalf of Williams.

-Joe Brandt

ALUMNUS ROBBED SATURDAY NIGHT ON FRENCH STREET

A Temple alumnus was robbed at gunpoint around 9:45 p.m. Saturday on the 1700 block of French Street, police said.

Two males approached the victim and displayed a handgun, Charlie Leone, executive director of Campus Safety Services said in an email. The suspects took a wallet, keys and a cell phone.

One suspect was described as an 18-year-old male of medium height and build, wearing a gray hoodie with a dark coat and holding a handgun. The other suspect was described as an 18-year-old male of medium height and build, wearing dark clothes.

No injuries were reported.

The victim did not wish to pursue the incident further, Leone said.

-Lian Parsons

PLRB TO HOLD HEARING WITH ADJUNCTS, ADMINISTRATORS

The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board will hold a hearing in Harrisburg March 19 to decide whether or not an election can be held for Temple’s adjunct professors to join a union.

The Temple Adjunct Organizing Committee has said it wants an election to decide whether adjuncts can join the Temple Association of University Professionals, the union for full-time faculty. Several adjunct professors had sent signed cards to the labor board to show that at least 30 percent of the group wants to unionize.

The hearing will include Temple administrators and outside legal counsel for Temple, as well as adjuncts and PLRB officials.

-Joe Brandt

GRADUATE SCHOOLS CLIMB U.S NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKS

Programs at four of the university’s schools and colleges – the Fox School of Business, Beasley School of Law, College of Education and College of Engineering – jumped in the 2016 U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Grad Schools” rankings.

The business and law schools both reached all-time highs in the rankings, with Fox’s full-time MBA program – the Global MBA – rising seven spots to No. 41, and the Beasley School of Law climbing nine spots to No. 52.

“These rankings reaffirm what our faculty and students know to be true – indeed, what they have worked together to create,” President Theobald said in a press release. “Temple is a red-hot institution that provides education of the highest quality and fosters world-class research.”

Fox’s new ranking makes it the only business school located in the Greater Philadelphia Region, other than the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, to place in the Top 50 of U.S. News’ rankings. Similarly, Temple Law joined the University of Pennsylvania’s Law School as the only law schools from Pennsylvania to earn a spot in the Top 70.

The top-ranked business school in the nation is the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, which tied with Harvard Business School and Wharton for the first spot last year. The leading law school is the Law School at Yale University, staying in the same position as the 2015 rankings.

-Steve Bohnel

CASELOAD DASHBOARDS TO BE LAUNCHED IN PA

Last Thursday, Pennsylvania’s judiciary launched criminal caseload “dashboards,” allowing the public, court staff and researchers to use “web-based data visuals” to examine criminal-case data across the state, according to an Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts press release.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin said the new dashboards will make statewide criminal-case information more effective.

“Dashboards have proven to be valuable resources that continue to help judges and court staffs make informed decisions about court operations,” Eakin said in the release.  “They also make it possible for Pennsylvanians to see the important work being done by the judiciary, and provides this data to the public in an accessible format.”

The three caseload dashboards – Statewide, County and Case Type – combine data from the general civil and criminal trial courts of Pennsylvania, Courts of Common Pleas, and Philadelphia Municipal Court.

The dashboard also includes data from civil cases, Protection from Abuse cases, child dependency and financial information, the last of which includes court distributions and court collection rates.

All of the preceding information can be found at pacourts.us on the “Interactive Data Dashboards” page through the “Research and Statistics” tab.

-Steve Bohnel

A 21-year-old construction worker was injured Tuesday while working on a residential building in the 1600 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue, philly.com reported.

The man, who has not yet been identified, fell 20 feet from the first floor to the basement, Philadelphia Police spokeswoman Leeloni Palmeiro said.

The worker was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he is in stable condition, said Tanya Little, another Philadelphia Police spokeswoman. Little added that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was notified of the incident.

As of 5:30 p.m., Little told The Temple News that no information had been released pertaining to the worker’s injuries.

Steve Bohnel can be reached at steven.bohnel@temple.edu or on Twitter @Steve_Bohnel.

NBC SUSPENDS BRIAN WILLIAMS

Longtime NBC anchor and reporter Brian Williams has been suspended for six months without pay for his actions concerning false reports about his role in a helicopter during the Iraq War in 2003, the New York Times reported.

Williams, the managing editor for “NBC Nightly News,” received the Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Award from Temple in September for his success in the field of journalism. Throughout a Q&A session with Temple students at Tomlinson Theater, Williams talked about various experiences during his career, including his time reporting in Iraq in 2003.

While students in attendance expressed approval in what Williams had accomplished in his career, Temple journalism professor Christopher Harper told the Inquirer last week that NBC was at fault for Williams’ mistake.

 “NBC has not monitored the crossover between Brian Williams as news anchor and Brian Williams as entertainer,” Harper told the Inquirer. “NBC is in the crosshairs because it has made more mistakes than CBS, ABC, or CNN.”

An investigation into Williams’ reporting is ongoing.

-Steve Bohnel

KHALILI RECEIVES NIDA GRANT

A five-year, $7.4 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse will allow researchers from Temple’s School of Medicine to examine how HIV-1 and cocaine interact to cause brain impairment, according to a university press release.

The leader of the study will be Kamel Khalili, chair of the Department of Neuroscience and director of Temple’s Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center. He said he’s been interested in how HIV impacts the body since it was first discovered.

“I have been interested in the central-nervous-system impact of HIV-1 since the very first days of the disease,” Khalili said in the release. “We realized that the impact is not as simple as the virus directly infecting neuronal cells, but rather a series of highly complicated events that lead to neuronal injury and death and ultimately dysregulated brain function.”

Last July, The Temple News reported that Khalili had led and successfully achieved an effort in developing a technology that destroys the HIV-1 virus from human cells in a laboratory – the first time such an accomplishment had ever occurred.

Past research conducted in Khalili’s lab suggests that cocaine causes the virus to disrupt neuronal cell function and even kill neuronal cells. He said that although the grant was given to his team to specifically focus on damage to the central nervous system caused by HIV-1, the research could lead to more treatment options for those with neurocognitive disorders.

“This area of AIDS research is very novel, and we are just scratching the surface in terms of scientific information and knowledge,” Khalili said. “Through this grant, we hope to answer several important questions that could help in the next phase for the development of therapeutic molecules.”

-Steve Bohnel

DNC WILL COME TO CITY IN 2016

The Inquirer reported Friday that the 2016 Democratic National Convention will be hosted in Philadelphia in July of that year. The city’s bid beat contenders Brooklyn, New York and Columbus, Ohio.

Mayor Nutter said Philadelphia will be on a global stage when the convention rolls around next year.

“This was a rigorous, grueling, and appropriate process for the kind of decision the DNC had to make,” Mayor Nutter said following the announcement last Thursday. “This is a very serious matter. The world watches what happens in American politics.”

Former Gov. Ed Rendell told the Inquirer that U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic Party, was key in helping the Democratic National Committee make its decision.

Rendell said the projected cost of the convention would be $84 million, according to Philadelphia 2016, the nonprofit organization that is coordinating funding for the event.

He added that nearly $5 million has been raised, and the organization has another $12 million in pledges.

Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey told the Inquirer that hosting the DNC and Pope Francis – who will visit Philadelphia in September as part of the World Meeting of Families – within a 10-month span won’t require specific security measures.

“They’re different, but crowds are crowds,” Ramsey said. “You learn every time you handle a large event, whether it’s the pope or the DNC. You get better at handling it. And we’re pretty damn good at handling these things.”

-Steve Bohnel

WASHINGTON BILL WOULD CHANGE STATUS OF ADJUNCTS

A Washington State Senate bill would accredit adjunct faculty members at colleges as public school substitute teachers, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.

State Sen. Christine Rolfes, a sponsor of the bill, wrote that “there are hundreds of highly qualified part-time college instructors with degrees in math, science, English, history, and the arts who would step in and help if their qualifications were better recognized and the process streamlined.”

The bill was drafted in response to the widespread shortage of substitute teachers in the state of Washington. Rolfes and other sponsors of the bill argue that it is “absurd” for the state to require college instructors to obtain formal teacher training to qualify as public school substitutes.

Rolfes told the Chronicle that “a lot of work” still needs to be done to the bill, which is scheduled for its first Senate-committee hearing next week.

-Allan Barnes

The Philadelphia Media Network will begin a collaboration with Temple’s Center for Public Interest Journalism in an effort to provide in-depth reporting on Philadelphia’s mayoral race this year.

Stan Wischnowski, vice president of news operations at the Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com, said in an email on Tuesday that “‘The Next Mayor’ project will provide voters with critical, timely content on mayoral candidates and the major issues facing Philadelphia.”

Wischnowski added that the project is being funded by a $350,000 grant by the Wyncote Foundation, which issues grants in many different fields, including arts & culture, education, the environment, health & human services, preservation and public media & journalism, according to its website.

Other outlets that will be involved in the project include WHYY/Newsworks, Young Involved Philly and The Committee of Seventy, Wischnowski said.

He said he hopes that “The Next Mayor” is the start of further collaborations between media outlets.

“We hope ‘The Next Mayor’ project will pave the way for other initiatives that similarly support innovative news practices, while retaining our journalistic mission and integrity,” Wischnowski said.
Steve Bohnel can be reached at steven.bohnel@temple.edu or on Twitter @Steve_Bohnel.