Water leak shuts down Weiss Hall

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Weiss Hall was shut after a water leak on the 2nd floor tripped the fire alarm leading to an evacuation of the building Friday, Oct. 25.

Acting Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said there are no reports of smoke or fire in the building, but it will remain closed as crews work on cleaning up the leak, which went into the 1st floor and basement and may have affected a “few” rooms as of 5 p.m. Friday.

Leone said it is too early to tell when the building will be fully cleaned and ready to be reopened.

New library still planned for Main Campus

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Contrary to reports earlier today, university officials told The Temple News that the university hasn’t scrapped plans to build a new library. Reports suggesting that Temple will update Paley Library instead of constructing a new facility are false.

“We’re building a new library,” said James Creedon, senior vice president for facilities, management and operations. “We will reinvigorate or do something new with Paley, but it won’t be in place of a new library.”

The library was previously slated to be built on North Broad Street as part of the 20/20 plan, which was the university’s “framework for campus development” under former President Ann Weaver Hart.

President Neil Theobald said last September, a month after he was named president, that he was excited about the prospect of a new library and its location on Broad Street.

“The ability to plan, from scratch, a new library, I can’t think of anything I’d rather do as someone who’s been a professor most of my life,” Theobald said at the time. “There is little at a university, especially a 21st century university, that is more important than a library, so I love the idea that it’s right on Broad [Street] and very visible.”

In an interview with The Temple News in April, he reiterated that the library wouldn’t be like Paley, however, he said he would like to see it on the east side of Main Campus.

“The library is going to provide us an opportunity to rethink how students learn. This will not be a library like [Paley Library], nothing like that. It won’t be stacks of books,” Theobald said. “In my mind, Broad Street kind of divides us. The east side is the academic side and the west side is the Liacouras Center and some housing. I think it’s very likely to end up on the east side.”

The president confirmed this in August when he said the library is “certainly going to be on the east side of Broad” Street.

The exact location of the new library has not been announced as the university develops its new master plan through its Visualize Temple initiative, which was launched at the end of last semester.

Snøhetta, a Norwegian firm that has designed the Alexandria Library in Egypt, the James B. Hunt Memorial Library at North Carolina State University and the Ryerson University Library in Toronto, is designing the library.

Professor feedback forms go live

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A new website that allows student’s access to professor evaluation forms went live earlier on Oct. 8  has drawn 8,000 hits from 2,000 unique students, Senior Vice Provost Peter Jones said.

The site gathers data from online Student Feedback Forms and will update four times a year Jones said, after the spring, fall and both summer semesters.

All incoming freshmen and transfer students will be given automatic access to the data, and returning students who completed all their spring semester SFF forms will eligible to look at the data.

Students who didn’t complete the spring forms but did so for summer classes will also be given access, Jones said.

The data from this fall semester will update the site in early January, Jones said.

The site is the result of an initiative by several Temple student governments in the past few years who have lobbied for access to professor evaluations. Jones said his office will be reviewing student feedback to the site when it updates in January.

Police looking for robbery suspects in Hartranft

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Philadelphia police are looking for two suspects in a robbery that occurred on the 2300 block of North Watts Street around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 6.

The suspects, two black males in their 20s, one wearing a purple shirt and jeans and the other dressed in a white T-shirt and shorts, approached two women walking east from Broad Street and robbed them before running away north on Watts Street, video surveillance shows.

The first suspect threw one of the victims to the ground and snatched her purse while the second suspect attempted to steal the other victim’s cell phone, police said.

Acting Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said the victim who was robbed was not a student, while her friend who witnessed was.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia police at 215.686.TIPS  or text a tip to PPD TIP.

Student government meeting on Oct. 21

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Sustainability was the word of the day for the Temple Student Government General Assembly meeting Monday, Oct. 21 in Room 200C of the student center.

Ivy Lane, assistant director of the Temple Fund, was the guest speaker discussing the senior class gift. After talking with university officials to see what would work on campus, Lane announced that this year’s class gift will be “two or possibly three” water refilling stations.

Lane said that they wanted to build on to the university’s efforts to further campus sustainability. The refilling stations are expected to further the lifespan of water bottles, therefore cutting down on the amount needed.

Lane asked each senior to donate $10.14 individually, making the total cost of the gift around $6,000. Seniors can donate at the Web site address giving.temple.edu/SeniorClassGift.

The locations of the stations have not been finalized but Lane said they will possibly be on Liacouras Walk and near the Bell Tower.

Lane added the class gift is being brought back to prominence like it was 40 years ago. This could potentially help the university’s national ranking as alumni participation plays into this, she said.

Melvin Hudson, TSG director of grounds and sustainability, also spoke on the topic of sustainability. He announced that this will be “Sustainability Week,” a series of events for students with a focus on green friendly practices.

Evan Feinstein, TSG director of university pride and traditions, then announced the winners of the clubs competition during last week’s Cherry and White Night. The Chinese Students and Scholars Association were congratulated on their win by standing for recognition.

After the Open Forum and Organization Announcements, the meeting came to a close. The next TSG meeting will be Oct. 28 in the same room at 4 p.m.

Marcus McCarthy is the TSG beat writer for The Temple News. He can be reached at marcus.mccarthy@temple.edu or follow on Twitter @Marcus.McCarthy6

Crime logs for 10/17-10/20

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Main Campus

An incident of public drunkenness occurred on Oct. 19 at 1:10 a.m. in 1300 Residence Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An issue of underage consumption occurred on Oct. 19 at 12:55 a.m. in Johnson Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An issue of underage consumption occurred on Oct. 19 at 1:20 a.m. in Johnson Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An issue of underage consumption occurred on Oct. 19 at 2:55 a.m. on the 1700 block of North Broad Street. The incident was exceptionally cleared.

An issue of public drunkenness occurred on Oct. 19 at 2:50 a.m. on the 1900 block of North 16th Street. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An issue of public drunkenness occurred on Oct. 19 at 5:45 a.m. on the 1900 block of North Broad Street. An arrest has been made in regards to this incident.

An incident of simple assault occurred on Oct. 19 at 11:45 a.m. at the 1700 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

An issue of criminal mischief occurred between Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. and Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. on the 1500 block of West Jefferson Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

An issue of harassment occurred on Oct. 19 at 3 a.m. in Hardwick Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An issue of a violation of city ordinance occurred on Oct. 19 at 9 p.m. on the 2000 block of North 16th Street. An arrest has been made in regards to this incident.

An issue of public drunkenness occurred on Oct. 20 at 12:45 a.m. on the 1300 block of West Cecil B. Moore Avenue. An arrest was made in regards to this incident.

An issue of underage consumption occurred on Oct. 20 at 12:40 a.m. in Morgan Hall North. An arrest was made in regards to this incident.

An issue of underage consumption occurred on Oct. 20 at 2:30 a.m.on the 1100 block of West Diamond Street. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An issue of underage consumption occurred on Oct. 20 at 2:44 a.m. in a White Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An issue of underage consumption occurred on Oct. 20 at 12:50 a.m. on the 2000 block of North Carlisle Street. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An issue of underage consumption occurred on Oct. 20 at 2 a.m. in a White Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

An incident of sexual assault occurred on Oct. 19 at 10:30 p.m. at the 2000 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

A theft occurred on Oct. 20 between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. in 1300 Residence Hall. No arrests were made.

An issue of underage consumption occurred on Oct. 19 at 10:50 p.m. on the 2000 block of North 15th Street. An arrest was made in regards to this incident.

A theft from auto occurred on Oct. 20 between 2 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. on the 1600 block of North Sydenham Street. No arrests were made at this time.

An issue of criminal mischief occurred on Oct. 20 between 1:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. on the 1600 block of West Oxford Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of sexual assault occurred between Oct. 11 at 10 p.m. and Oct. 12 at 8 a.m. in Morgan Hall North. No arrests have been made at this time.

A theft occurred on Oct. 20 at 9:28 p.m. on the 1700 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

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No incidents were reported.

Alpha Chi Rho loses recognition

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Barely a month after recruiting new members and just as the 2013 Greek season begins, the brothers of Alpha Chi Rho lost recognition at Temple. Alpha Chi Rho will join the ranks of other unrecognized and unendorsed Greek organizations on campus, Phi Kappa Sigma and Zeta Beta Tau.

Though unable to discuss the details behind Temple’s decision to no longer recognize Alpha Chi Rho, Interim Director of Student Affairs, Chris Carey said “[Temple has] expectations for how our recognized organizations positively contribute to the university, the fraternity and sorority community, and the surrounding neighborhoods.”

Unrecognized organizations lose their ability to hold social events with recognized Greek organizations, cannot work with National Pan-hellenic Council, the Panhellenic Council nor the Interfraternity Council. They also lose their access to school resources and other Greek activities.

Representatives for Alpha Chi Rho could not be reached for comment.

Crime Logs 9/17

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Main Campus

A theft occurred on Oct. 17 between 1:45 p.m. and 1:50 p.m. on the 1700 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

A bike theft occurred on Oct. 17 between 11 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. on the 1800 block of North Broad Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of fraud occurred on Oct. 17 at 5 p.m. on the 1500 block of North 15th Street. No arrests have been made at this time.

A bike theft occurred on Oct. 17 at 7:15 p.m. on the 2000 block of North Broad Street. An arrest was made in regards to this incident.

A robbery occurred on Oct. 17 at 8:30 p.m. on the 1400 block of West Diamond Street. An arrest was made in regards to this incident.

A robbery occurred on Oct. 17 at 10:05 p.m. on the 1000 block of West Susquehanna Avenue. No arrests have been made at this time.

An incident of underage consumption occurred on Oct. 17 at 10:50 p.m. in Johnson Hall. The incident was handled by the School Code of Conduct.

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A theft occurred on Oct. 16 between 2 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. in the Rock Pavilion. No arrests have been made at this time.

A theft occurred between Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. and Sept. 23 at 2 p.m. in the Dental School. No arrests have been made at this time.

University cancels homecoming concert

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On Tuesday, citing financial considerations and unforeseen circumstances, the university canceled this year’s homecoming concert, Director of Student Activities Chris Carey said.

The concert, which was supposed to feature B.o.B and Far East Movement, was scheduled to be held at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Liacouras Center.

Main Campus Program Board’s website has a message in place of the concert on its homecoming calendar that states that people who bought tickets can return them to the Liacouras Center Box Office for a full refund.

General Assembly meeting Oct. 15

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Business was short for this week’s Temple Student Government General Assembly meeting in room 200c of the Student Center on Monday. With no guest speakers, the meeting was mostly updates by members of TSG.

Starting with Darin Bartholomew, Temple’s student body president, the class gift for this year was announced as water bottle refilling stations. Donations for this gift will be accepted Friday at the inauguration celebrations.

Sonia Galiber, vice president of external affairs, thanked those involved with Sunday’s zombie run and Morgan Jenkins, director of local and community affairs, spoke about an upcoming event.

Avenue of the Treats, a Halloween event hosted by CSS for children, will be held Oct. 31 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Progress Plaza near the intersection of Broad and West Oxford streets.

Evan Feinstein, director of pride and traditions, discussed the Cherry and White Games to be held on Friday. This event will set student organizations in competition with the winner receiving a plaque.

Following that was the Open Forum where Bartholomew inquired as to concerns from students who were affected by yesterday’s lockdown on Willington Street. Bartholomew, who said he was neighbors with the student, told The Temple News he is looking in to ways to better the university’s response.

Organization announcements were last on the agenda before the meeting ended a few minutes earlier than usual.

The next TSG GA meeting will be Oct. 21 also in room 200c of the student center at 4 p.m.

Marcus McCarthy is the TSG beat writer for The Temple News. He can be reached at marcus.mccarthy@temple.edu or follow on Twitter @Marcus.McCarthy6