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

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.

LOCAL POLICE OFFICER KILLED IN 22ND DISTRICT

Robert Wilson III was shot and killed in a GameStop on Lehigh Avenue while picking up a birthday gift for his son on Thursday night, the Inquirer reported.

Wilson, a police officer in the police department’s 22nd district, was performing a security check and was at the store counter when two brothers entered and declared that they were robbing the establishment.

When the 30-year-old officer drew his gun, shots were soon fired by Ramone Williams and Carlton Hipps, the two individuals police identified as the perpetrators on Thursday.

In the ensuing gunfight that lasted 30 seconds, more than 50 shots were fired. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said in a press conference on Friday that Wilson “redefined what being a hero is all about.”

“He stepped away from the counter, there were civilians there … he stepped away so that the shots weren’t going directly at them,” Ramsey said at the press conference. “He was actually being hit during the exchange of gunfire but he continued to fight, continued to shoot.”

Williams and Hipps were both charged with first-degree murder, along with attempted murder for attacking Wilson’s partner, Officer Damien Stevenson.

Captain Robert Glenn, who was Wilson’s commanding officer, said the eight-year veteran always volunteered for various tasks in order to make his community safer.

“If there was a crime pattern, he would be the first to say, ‘Let me and my partner be part of the solution,’” Glenn said.

Wilson left behind two sons and a grandmother. The older son – who Wilson was buying a gift for – turned 10 on Monday.

-Steve Bohnel

STUDENT ROBBED ON 15TH AND DIAMOND STREETS

Temple Police apprehended a male in connection with an armed robbery of two students on 15th and Diamond streets Wednesday night.

The suspect was found on 17th and Diamond streets, carrying a pellet gun, Charlie Leone, executive director of campus safety services said in an email.

Around 8 p.m., two students reported that they had been robbed at gunpoint, Leone said.

A male approached the students and asked them both for their belongings, Leone said. One student refused and the suspect displayed a handgun. The students said they believe that the gun was a pellet gun.

A wallet and a cellphone were taken before the suspect fled on foot southbound on 15th Street from the location, Leone said.

No injuries were reported.

The suspect was described as thin, approximately 6 feet tall, with a mustache. He was wearing a baggy blue and gray hooded windbreaker and dark baggy clothing.

-Lian Parsons

TEMPLE TO HOST DEMOCRATIC MAYORAL DEBATE

A Democratic mayoral debate will be held on May 4 on Main Campus at Temple’s Performing Arts Center prior to the primary elections on May 14, philly.com reported.

The debate is part of “The Next Mayor,” a collaborative project created to inform voters about the mayoral race, which concludes with the general election on Nov. 3.

Partners in the project include Temple’s Center for Public Interest Journalism, the Inquirer, Daily News, WHYY/Newsworks, The Committee of Seventy and WURD Radio.

Daily News Editorial Page Editor Sandra Shea and WHYY Senior Reporter Dave Davies will co-moderate the debate, which will cover several issues tied to the race, including education, taxes, economic development and several others.

“Philadelphia Media Network is delighted to host this important debate just two weeks before the primary,” said Stan Wischnowski, the company’s vice president of news operations in the press release. “The format will provide voters a final chance to hear directly from the candidates on the issues most critical to the city’s future.”

-Steve Bohnel

KITCH NAMED CHAIR OF JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT

The journalism department now has a new permanent chair after the departure of Dr. Andrew Mendelson for the City University of New York.

Carolyn Kitch, a professor of Journalism, was named department chair last week after serving as interim chair during this semester. 

-Joe Brandt

In his budget address Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf said he would restore 50 percent of the state funding cut from higher education institutions in the past few years, with the expectation of a tuition freeze at the affected schools.

“In return for these increases, today I am calling on our institutions of higher education to freeze tuition, and I expect them to answer that call,” Wolf said.

For Temple, this amounts to an increase of more than $15 million after being flat-funded at just under $140 million since 2011.

The proposal must be approved by the state’s General Assembly – meaning the House of Representatives and the Senate, which are both currently controlled by Republicans.

Following the announcement, President Theobald said that he appreciated Gov. Wolf’s commitment to funding higher education throughout Pennsylvania.

“We are grateful for the governor’s investment in public higher education in Pennsylvania,” Theobald said in a university press release. “The restored funds in the governor’s proposal—if approved by the General Assembly—will go directly to helping us hold down tuition and recruit the best faculty.”

For Temple, the next step in the state funding process will be public hearings before the House and Senate appropriation committees, which are scheduled for March 24.

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