Corbett proposes zero percent increase in Temple funding

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Today, Gov. Corbett proposed the same funding for Temple as last year’s budget. Speaking at the State Capitol building in Harrisburg this morning, Corbett announced his 2014-15 annual budget proposal that included Temple’s appropriations level.

Corbett’s proposal would see Temple receiving a little over $139.9 million, the same funding that the university has received for the last two fiscal years. All of the other state-related universities – Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pittsburgh and Lincoln University – had a zero percent increase in appropriations proposed as well.

The budget must still go through the General Assembly, which includes a series of subcommittee meetings and votes, then signed by Corbett. The new fiscal year begins on July 1, a deadline that has been narrowly met for every budget since Corbett has entered office.

Student debt discussed in meeting of democratic socialists, student groups

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Strike Student Debt and other organizations seeking to reduce or eradicate college student loan debt were on campus Thursday, Jan. 30 to discuss their movement’s goals for Temple.

Strike Student Debt, which was formed by the Philadelphia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, held its Drop Student Debt Forum in collaboration with the United States Student Association, the Quebec Student Union and Jobs With Justice, which protests for workers’ rights.

“This movement must demand meaningful but realistic policy reform that puts us on the course toward universal free higher education,” said DSA member Michele Rossi, who began the panel. Much of the discussion was focused on neo-liberalism, which was the philosophy behind the economic policies begun under Ronald Reagan. The panelists argued that this philosophy has contributed to rising tuition costs and budget cuts in education.

Others argued that conservatives, such as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, contribute to the attitude that “states no longer see education as a public good,” United States Student Association President Sophia Zaman said.

“If you’re from the state administration, you need to know that education is good for our society to invest in,” Zaman said. “An educated society is a much better society.”

“We should go to Harrisburg and demand a return of the money taken from our budget a few years ago,” Political Science professor and DSA member Joseph Schwartz said from the audience, referring to Corbett’s $25 million cut to Temple’s budget in the 2011 fiscal year.

Dustin Guastella, a Temple alumnus and communications director for the Philadelphia DSA, argued that President Obama’s income-based loan repayment plan is not extensive enough, since the movement’s ultimate goal is socialized higher education, comparable to the nationwide program in Finland.

Man stabbed in 16th Street apartment.

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A stabbing inside an apartment on the 1700 block of 16th Street left a 31-year-old in stable condition at Hahnemann University Hospital Monday night, Jan. 27.

The victim was stabbed once in the head and once in the shoulder by someone he knew, Campus Safety Services said. Neither the victim nor the offender are affiliated with the university, CSS said. The case is being investigated by Philadelphia Police.

No alert was sent out to university students.

TSG holds first meeting of 2014

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Temple Student Government held its first meeting of the spring semester Monday, Jan. 27 in the student center.

Temple Athletics Marketing Manager Denise Fitzpatrick urged students to buy tickets to the women’s basketball game at McGonigle Hall Tuesday, Jan.28 where Temple will host No. 1-ranked University of Connecticut, who is undefeated this season.

Student Body President Darin Bartholomew spoke about safety in campus buildings, an issue where TSG has put more focus after a Temple professor was assaulted in October. Bartholomew said next week’s meeting will host a speaker from Campus Safety Services to discuss building safety.

Bartholomew addressed student concerns on campus food services and spoke about the results of a private meeting with Sodexo officials on Friday. Sodexo said it would introduce more healthy options, including salad bars on weekends at Morgan Hall and the Student Activities Center, and calorie-count menus at Morgan Hall. The food provider also said it would train employees to better handle long lines in the future.

TSG announced an update to their initiative to allow Owl Cards to be used in SEPTA’s new payment technology. TSG is working on three different proposals with SEPTA’s Youth Advisory Council, Bartholomew said, with the hope that the current Owl Cards can work as payment, despite SEPTA’s announcement that they would not.

The annual Owls on the Hill Day, where students visit the state Capitol and share issues with legislators, will take place in April, though a finite date has not yet been set, Bartholomew said.

Crime logs 1/17 to 1/23

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Main

An incident of criminal mischief occurred between Jan. 16 at 8:30 p.m. and Jan. 17 at 3:30 p.m. on the 1900 block of North 16th Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

A bike theft occurred between Jan. 7 at 12 p.m. and Jan. 18 at 12 p.m. on the 1800 block of North 10th Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

A warrant was issued on Jan. 18 at 5 p.m. on the 1000 block of West Norris Street. An arrest has been made in regards to this issue.

A retail theft occurred on Jan. 19 at 12:35 a.m. on the 2000 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of underage consumption occurred on Jan. 19 at 12:50 a.m. in Johnson Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An incident of underage consumption occurred on Jan. 19 at 12:30 a.m. on 1936 Liacouras Walk. An arrest was made in regards to this incident.

An incident of underage consumption occurred on Jan. 19 at 1:49 a.m. in 1300 Residence Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An incident of underage consumption occurred on Jan. 19 at 1:49 a.m. in 1300 Residence Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

A retail theft occurred on Jan. 19 at 12:30 a.m. on the 1600 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of underage consumption occurred on Jan. 19 at 1:49 a.m. on the 1900 block of Liacouras Walk. An arrest was made in regards to this incident.

An incident of underage consumption occurred on Jan. 20 at 2:17 a.m. in Hardwick Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An incident of underage consumption occurred on Jan. 20 at 9 p.m. in Hardwick Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An incident of harassment occurred on Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in 1940 Residence Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An incident of underage possession occurred on Jan. 20 at 11:42 p.m. in White Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An incident of harassment occurred on Jan. 21 at 2:15 p.m. in Morgan Hall South. No arrests have been made at this time.

A theft occurred between Jan. 19 at 1 p.m. and Jan. 21 at 4:30 p.m. in Hardwick Hall. No arrests have been made at this time.

A vehicle theft occurred between Jan. 8 at 4:30 p.m. and Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. on the 1900 block of North 11th Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of underage consumption occurred on Jan. 21 at 8:45 p.m. in Temple Towers. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An incident of underage consumption occurred on Jan. 21 at 11:14 p.m. in Johnson Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

A theft occurred on Jan. 23 between 1:50 p.m. and 4 p.m. in McGonigle Hall. No arrests have been made at this time.

A theft occurred on Jan. 23 between 1:45 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. in Barton Hall. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of underage possession occurred on Jan. 23 at 6:45 p.m. in Morgan Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

A theft occurred on Jan. 15 between 5:20 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on the 1500 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time

An incident of public drunkenness occurred on Jan. 23 at 10:50 p.m. on the 1300 block of West Cecil B. Moore Avenue. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

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A theft occurred between Jan. 16 at 4 p.m. and Jan. 17 at 12 p.m. in the Rock Pavilion. No arrests have been made at this time.

A theft occurred between Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. and Jan. 17 at 7 a.m. in the Rock Pavilion. No arrests have been made at this time.

A theft occurred between Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. and Jan. 21 at 9:50 a.m. in the Parkinson Pavilion. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of harassment by communication occurred on Jan. 23. between 3:30 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. in the Rock Pavilion. No arrests have been made at this time.

Classes close due to snow

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Temple posted on its website Tuesday afternoon that the university would close after 1 p.m. on Jan. 21 due to a snowstorm that has hit the Philadelphia area.

A spokesperson for the university said administrators were working with a lagging alert system to get messages sent out to students and faculty advising them of the closing, which took place at the Ambler, Main, Center City, Harrisburg and Fort Washington Campuses.

Owl Loop and TUr Door Services will close for the day. Several businesses in the surrounding area were also closed due to the weather,

According to Philly.com, Philadelphia could receive between 7 and 11 inches of snow.

Snow shuts down Main Campus

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In a Temple Alert sent out 6:30 a.m. Friday morning, administration announced that non-essential services at the university would be closed Jan. 3 due to the winter storm that dumped heavy snowfall on much of the Philadelphia region and Northeast United States Thursday night.

Temple University Hospital, physicians practices, Campus Safety Services and facilities and operations workers would remain on duty Friday, a full report on the university’s website stated.

Due to winter break, normal class operations were not affected. The report said that employees should not report to work unless their services are deemed essential by their supervisors.

According to Philly.com, 7 inches of snow fell throughout most of the region, including 9 inches at Philadelphia International Airport. Philadelphia Public Schools were closed Friday and Saturday, but SEPTA regional rail, subway and bus routes remained open, although with delays. A state of emergency was declared in nearby New Jersey.

The last time Temple closed due to weather was in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy shut down campus for two days.

 

Crime logs Dec. 16 to Dec. 19

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Main Campus

A DUI occurred on Dec. 17 at 2:15 a.m. on the 1200 block of West Norris Street. An arrest has been made in regards to the incident.

A retail theft occurred on Dec. 17 at 4:20 p.m. on the 2000 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of criminal mischief occurred between Dec. 10 at 9:30 p.m. and Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. on the 1500 block of West Norris Street. No arrests have been made at this time,

A warrant was issued on Dec. 17 at 10:40 a.m. on the 1600 block of West Diamond Street. An arrest has been made in regards to this incident.

An incident of criminal mischief occurred on Dec. 18 at 3:30 a.m. on the 2000 block of North 10th Street. An arrest has been made in regard to this incident.

A theft occurred between Dec. 17 at 5 a.m. and Dec. 18 at 12 p.m. on Presser Hall. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of criminal mischief occurred on Dec. 19 between 7 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. on the 1000 block of West Montgomery Avenue. No arrests have been made at this time.

A theft occurred on Dec. 19 at 4:45 p.m. on the 1700 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of disorderly conduct occurred on Dec. 19 at 5:20 p.m. on the 1800 block of North 10th Street. An arrest has been made in regards to this incident.

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A theft occurred on Dec. 16 between 7 a.m. 4:15 p.m. on the Rock Pavilion. No arrests have been made at this time.

A car was reported stolen between Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. and Dec. 16 at 10 p.m. on the 3000 of North  Park Avenue. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of harassment occurred on Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. on the Rock Pavilion. The incident was exceptionally cleared.

An incident of fraud occurred on Dec. 17 at 1:30 p.m. on the 3300 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

Water main break affects two campuses

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Two TU alerts were sent out alerting students of a water main break in Northeast Philadelphia that affected large parts of the city, including the Health Sciences and Main Campus on Monday afternoon, Dec. 23.

The first alert, sent out at 10:45 a.m., alerted students of the situation and advised those living near either campus to conserve water. A second alert sent around 2:30 p.m. said that water pressure in the area had been restored, and those still experiencing problems should contact Campus Safety Services at 215-204-1234.

The break occurred near Frankford and Torresdale avenues around 9 a.m., flooding the intersection in five feet of water and leading to the closure of 40 Philadelphia Public Schools and numerous small businesses due to lack of water pressure.

Eight zip codes were affected by the break, including 19121, 19122, 19123, 19130, 19134,  19124, 19137 and 19140.

In separate case, AC cop accused of student beating used excessive force

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An Atlantic City police officer under suit by a Temple student for a violent arrest caught on tape this summer was ruled to have used excessive force in another case by a federal jury on Thursday, Dec. 19, the Press of Atlantic City reports.

Officer Sterling Wheaton was ordered to pay $250,000 in damages and Atlantic City is liable to pay another $250,000 stemming from the 2008 arrest of then-Deputy State Attorney General Michael Troso. Troso claimed that Wheaton and other officers falsely arrested him during his bachelor party in Atlantic City, and that he subsequently lost his job.

No other officers were found liable in the case.

In June, junior media studies major David Castellani was arrested outside the Tropicana Resort & Casino by a group of police officers, including Wheaton, who used a canine unit to subdue the student in a gruesome incident caught on a security camera.

Castellani was treated for multiple injuries, including a crushed spinal column and dog bites that required more than 200 stitches. Castellani filed suit in federal court and a video of the incident subsequently gained widespread attention online.