Category Archives: News

Police suspect identified in shooting of 11-year-old boy

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Philadelphia police have identified who they said was involved with the shooting of an 11-year-old boy on the corner of Gratz and Oxford streets. Police wrote in a press release that Marcelus Temple, a 25-year-old male whose home address is unknown, is a suspect in the incident.

On April 6 around 4 p.m., the 11-year-old male was playing basketball with friends when they were hit as a bystander in a drive-by shooting, according to the police press release. The 11-year-old was found by police bleeding from a single shot to the side and ducking in a doorway. Police said they found 15 bullets on the scene.

The 11-year-old was taken to Temple University Hospital for surgery and was in critical condition. The boy was later stabilized and transported to Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children for additional treatment.

Police are asking for anyone with information of the incident to call the Central Detectives Unit.

Marcus McCarthy can be reached at marcus.mccarthy@temple.edu or on Twitter @marcusmccarthy6.

Trustees hold committee meetings on finances and policy

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Temple will pay off Temple Japan’s debts, shift a small pension plan from monthly payments to one final lump sum and allow different offices to have their own credit cards, the Board of Trustees announced at two committee meetings today.

Temple Japan owes $6.3 million on a loan that could be paid off now since the dollar’s value is high, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Ken Kaiser explained to the trustees. Paying off the loan immediately would save about $1.2 million.

“This seems like a no-brainer,” Chairman Patrick O’Connor said. The recommendation was passed with one motion to abstain from trustee J. William Mills, who is PNC Bank’s Regional President for Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. The loan in question was a PNC loan.

The executive committee also discussed the termination of the Interest Pension Plan, a plan started in 1946 that gives retired employees annuity payments. MetLife, the disperser of the payments, urged Temple to reform the plan.

Of the initial 200 signed up, 28 retired employees still draw from the fund. They will be given a lump sum that can be re-invested into another retirement plan, Kaiser said. The fund’s total value is $185,000.

The third recommendation concerned an amendment of a policy concerning credit cards for university offices to pay certain expenses. With the new policy, there will be a higher spending threshold before offices are required to obtain administrative pre-approval.

The Budget and Finance Committee met first in executive session before moving to public session, and made one recommendation concerning Temple Japan’s finances. Then the meeting shifted to casual chatting, where Provost Hai-Lung Dai and President Neil Theobald, when asked about the current state of admissions, revealed that 28 thousand students were competing for 4,700 undergraduate seats.

The executive committee met next and made the three recommendations. The public session meeting, which consisted of many of the trustees from the Budget and Finance Committee including McNichol and Lewis Gould Jr., lasted for about fifteen minutes.

The trustees’ general body will meet on May 13 at 3:30 p.m.

Joe Brandt can be reached at joseph.brandt@temple.edu or on Twitter at @JBrandt_TU.

Owls on the Hill Day changes to email only

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Administrators announced on Wednesday that Owls on the Hill Day would be cancelled and instead students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff are being asked to electronically submit personal letters to lawmakers advocating for Temple’s state appropriations.

Andrew McGinley, public affairs and policy manager, said that many of the students who wanted to go were unable to because of the event’s proximity to final exams. The annual Cherry and White Week events were planned for a later date than is typical in the past due to scheduling conflicts at the State Capitol building, McGinley said.

The previous two years’ Cherry and White weeks were held in late March.

“The scheduling is beyond our control,” McGinley said. “It’s based on space availability in the Capitol Building. We use a lot of space during that week and there’s lots of other unions and charities and other groups that also want space in the capitol building. So it got pushed back.”

Other Cherry and White Week events include an academic presentation in Harrisburg by the Institute for Public Affairs, followed by art and music students as well as researchers presenting to lawmakers. These events will still be held on April 28 and 30, respectively. Owls on the Hill Day was originally planned to have students personally meet with lawmakers on April 29 to lobby for state appropriations.

McGinley said the letters don’t need to be long or formal, just personal.

“Elected officials want to hear from constituents,” McGinely said. “This year we’re asking people to just write a note…[It will be] via email. It will go through our system so they [those writing to legislators] don’t have to look up emails. Its very quick and simple.”

McGinley said the switch is not expected to be a permanent decision.

Marcus McCarthy can be reached at marcus.mccarthy@temple.edu or on Twitter at @marcusmccarthy6.

TU Believe win 2014 TSG elections

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The results of the 2014 Temple Student Government elections were announced Thursday afternoon, and TU Believe won the leadership, defeating opponents Renew TU. Ray Smeriglio will take over as student body president beginning next semester, and his running mates, Julia Crusor and Blair Alston will serve as vice presidents.

“I had a small crying fit,” Crusor said of the victory. “This is something we really wanted for a long time.”

Rachel Applewhite, vice presidential candidate from Renew TU, said the loss was disappointing because her team worked very hard to win.

“I hope [TU Believe] will use some of our ideas going forward,” Applewhite said. “I would love to help out on TSG where I’m needed.”

A total of 1,716 votes were cast, according to a tally by TSG election commissioners. It was lower than the total from last year’s election, which counted 2,075 votes.

TU Believe won 961 votes, or 56%, and Renew TU received 755 votes, or 44%.

TSG election commissioner Dylan Morpurgo said the drop-in voter turnout meant TSG didn’t communicate as effectively as it could have to students.

“Voter turnout can always be higher,” Morpurgo said. “Because campus is so busy and diverse, people are not always connected to what’s going on.”

In other ways, Morpurgo said the election was an improvement. “Both teams made a really concerted effort to run a clean campaign,” he said. “The debates were very cordial. That wasn’t always the case in the past.”

Crusor said TU Believe has “big shoes to fill,” as they prepare to lead the student body in the fall.

Joe Gilbride can be reached at joseph.gilbride@temple.edu.

Students for Monteiro hold rally, march to Sullivan Hall

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Students stood outside Sullivan Hall to hand in a petition. They waited roughly 30 minutes until administrators came outside to take the petition.

Students stood outside Sullivan Hall to hand in a petition. They waited roughly 30 minutes until administrators came outside to take the petition.

Members of the coalition Students for Monteiro held a rally this afternoon to demand the reinstatement of Anthony Monteiro, an adjunct African American studies professor whose contract is not being renewed.

People Utilizing Real Power and Temple Democratic Socialists, the main student organizations in the coalition, spoke about topics ranging from gentrification to alleged racism in the College of Liberal Arts and their feelings about Monteiro in front of the Bell Tower. The students said that Monteiro was scheduled to speak, but he was not present and told The Temple News he had not planned to.

After the speeches, the group of about 30 protesters marched toward Anderson Hall and north past the Tyler School of Art before circling back and arriving at the doors of Sullivan Hall, which houses administrative offices.

The protesters chanted “Monteiro in, Soufas out,” “beat back Temple’s attack” and “up with the people, down with the police.” While the protesters gathered around the front door of Sullivan Hall, Temple police put up crowd control barriers on Beasley’s Walk, where there is a side door.

After about a half hour of chanting, Acting Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone along with William Bergman, special assistant to President Theobald, came outside to receive a petition from the protesters. Estimates for the number of signatories to the petition varied, with members of Students for Monteiro citing numbers between 500 and 900.

Last week, the protesters were stationed in front of the Bell Tower gathering signatures for their petition, which made four demands: reinstate Monteiro with tenure, fire CLA Dean Teresa Soufas, get student representation on the Board of Trustees and foster better community relations for Temple.

After Bergman and Leone took the petition, PURP member Paul-Winston Cange dismissed the crowd and announced a joint community-and-students protest on Wed. April 16 at 1 p.m.

“We’ll be right back here next week,” Cange said.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@temple.edu or on Twitter @JBrandt_TU.

Man arrested after students report harassment on Broad

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A man believed to have mental health issues was arrested near Broad Street after three students reported harassment  on Wednesday evening, April 2, police said.

Michael, Campbell, 26 of the 3000 block of Crosby Street was charged with two counts of harassment after bike cops pursued him to the area in front of the Cecil B. Moore subway station near Morgan Hall, Acting Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said.

Leone said the first victim, a female student, reported a man walking down Broad Street from Norris Street around 5:30 p.m., when he announced that he was going to punch her in  the face. The student was able to duck and ran away towards Norris, Leone said.

Two more female student reported being targeted in the area, Leone said. One told police she was bumped by the suspect and fell to the ground, another was spit on. No serious injuries were reported.

Leone said another male student saw the incidents and began chasing the suspect near Montgomery Avenue down Broad Street before the suspect was apprehended by police and taken to Temple University Hospital for examination due to a perceived mental health condition.

The suspect remained in the hospital as of Friday morning, Leone said.

John Moritz can be reached at john.moritz@temple.edu or on Twitter @JCMoritzTU. 

Investments committee renames account

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The Investments Committee of Temple’s Board of Trustees will rename and re-purpose its Retirement of Indebtedness Fund, it announced at a public session meeting today in Sullivan Hall.

The new fund, now called the Operating and Auxiliary Reserves Fund, will still provide investment support to the auxiliary and operating budgets for debt-financed projects as the predecessor did.

The trustees present, among them committee chair Christopher McNichol in person and Nelson Diaz by phone, agreed that the name change would better reflect the fund’s purpose and eliminate the misconception that the fund’s function is to repay university debt.

The committee also moved to revise parts of the Investment Policies to include guidelines for the new fund. The fund will be allowed up to a 50 percent allocation in U.S. corporate bonds deemed “high-quality.”

This allocation would add about 55 basis points to the investment. One basis point is equivalent to a value rise of one hundredth of one percent.

“It would only slightly change the risk profile,” Ken Kaiser, Temple’s chief financial officer and treasurer said in his explanation to the trustees.

This change is part of an ongoing effort to structure the other investment pools and funds similarly to the pension and post-retirement funds, which have fixed income allocations.

The management of the pension and post-retirement funds was shifted in February from RS Investments to Van Eck Associates Corporation, a larger firm based in New York City.

The meeting met first in executive session at 10 a.m. before moving to public session from 10:25 a.m.-10:35 a.m. It moved back to executive session at that time.

The next Investments committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 23, at 10 a.m.

Joe Brandt can be reached at joseph.brandt@temple.edu or on Twitter @JBrandt_TU. 

Teens charged as adults for assaults

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Three of five teenagers arrested yesterday have been charged as adults in connection to three assaults that occurred near Main Campus last Friday, the district attorney’s office announced Wednesday.

Najee Bilaal, 16,  Zaria Estes, 15, and Kanesha Gainey, 15, have been charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy, possession of an instrument of a crime, terroristic threats, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

Gainey’s bail was set for $75,000 while both Bilaal and Estes had bail set at $100,000 each.

The DA’s office didn’t say who is believed to have used a brick to attack a 19-year-old student who broke her jaw and required emergency oral surgery.

According to court records, Bilaal has been arrested six times since December 2011, including on charges of retail theft and criminal trespassing. Three of the arrests were made by SEPTA police for theft of services.

Neither Estes nor Gainey have prior arrests listed in the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania.

Bilaal’s zip code is listed in West Philadelphia near University City, according to court records. Gainey had a listed zip code from West Philadelphia and Estes had a Northwest Philadelphia zip code. Police yesterday said the teens left Temple after the attacks on a SEPTA bus heading south on 17th Street.

The next court date for the teens is set for April 10.

John Moritz can be reached at john.moritz@temple.edu or on Twitter @JCMoritzTU. 

Arrests made, no charges filed yet, in Friday’s assault cases

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Five juveniles believed to be connected with Friday’s assault on a 19-year-old student and her 20-year-old boyfriend have been arrested according to the Philadelphia police.

The minors have not yet been charged and are awaiting a court hearing as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, police spokesman Lt. John Stanford said.

Three of the people arrested were 15 years old, one was 14 and another was 17, Stanford said.

The arrests came in the wake of surveillance footage released last night of four teenage females walking toward the 1700 block of Norris Street before the assault took place.

At 6 p.m., a female student and her boyfriend said they were attacked by a group of eight to 10 youths who appeared to between 13 to 14 years old. One of the attackers, a female, hit the 19-year-old victim in the face twice with a brick resulting in emergency oral surgery, a fractured jawbone and mild concussion.

Two other students reported similar attacks within a half-hour of the aforementioned assault by a group of juveniles ranging in the same size.

The couple assaulted with a brick called 911 en route to Hannehman University Hospital within 10 minutes of the attack while a second female attempted to report the attack to the 22nd Precinct police station on 17th Street and Montgomery Avenue but did not file an official report.

A third student waited until Sunday afternoon to speak to Temple police.

It is not clear whether all three attacks are related at this time.

Paley Library evacuated due to bomb scare

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The Paley Library and Tuttleman Learning Center were evacuated by police for close to a half hour Tuesday afternoon due to a suspicious package. The buildings, near the corner of 13th Street and Polett Walk, were evacuated around 2:20 p.m. and the all clear was issued at 2:45 p.m.

Police and bomb squad units responded to the scene where they closed 13th street from automobile traffic and had K-9 units as well as a bomb disposal robot on the scene.

The suspicious package was found on top of a urinal in the first floor men’s bathroom of Paley. The package was found to be a student’s electronics project that consisted of a tissue box with wires found on top, said Charlie Leone, acting executive director of campus safety services.

On Sunday at 5:38 p.m. the Conwell Inn on Main Campus was evacuated due to a prop grenade. The all-clear was issued 25 minutes later.