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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013
VOL. 92 ISS. 10
Number of sex assault reports rises
Univ. avoids possible credit fall
To date, reported forcible rapes have increased in 2013.
Moody’s confirms credit rating after health system drop.
CINDY STANSBURY The Temple News During a night out in Center City two years ago while she was a freshman, Sarah said she was raped at knifepoint by a man whom she had never met. Sarah never reported the incident to police. “I almost dropped out last semester. I have post-traumatic stress disorder, I can’t have sex and enjoy it, I haven’t been as close with my friends, I don’t go to clubs, I don’t go to parties, I avoid anything that has to do with that,” said the female student, who The Temple News is referring to as Sarah to protect her identity. Reports of sexual assaults such as Sarah’s have increased in 2013, with 17 reported incidents through Oct. 10. Thirteen were reported during the same time period in the university’s catchment area in 2012 Sexual assaults as reported by Campus Safety Services can range from unwanted sexual contact to rape. The increase of sexual crime at the university has caused CSS to place special attention upon the issue. Acting Executive Director of CSS Charlie Leone said a large amount of these incidents occur in party settings. “You think everybody is great and most people are, but you have a few people out there whose intentions from the beginning aren’t good,” Leone said. “You get to the point where you’re both intoxicated and thinking is not as logical.” Sarah said her rape, like those Leone described, occurred during a night out. “I had just broken up with my boyfriend so I was dancing with this guy,” Sarah said. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything and he suddenly pulled me back behind the stage.” Leone said while it is not the victim’s fault if they are assaulted while intoxicated, he
ASSAULT PAGE 3
JOHN MORITZ News Editor
A
Sophomore Dondi Kirby (center) and freshman Jarrad Alwan, both members of the football team, utilize the Student-Athlete Academic Advising & Support Center. The football team’s APR has steadily increased since 2006-7. | SASH SCHAEFFER TTN
Playing by the book Academic rates in Temple athletics are on the rise. ANDREW PARENT The Temple News Come mid-October, Shawn Fagan is a busy guy. Amid the few days leading up to the priority registration date, the principle advisor for Temple’s cross country, baseball and softball teams sat in his Pearson Hall cubicle at the Student-Athlete Academic Advising & Support Center and continued
to work with his student-athletes one by one on each of their prospective class schedules well after business hours had ceased. Fagan said he worked until 11 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday and 10 p.m. on Wednesday of last week leading up to the beginning of priority registration Thursday, Oct. 24. Last week marked the onset of registration time, a period in which Fagan’s office enters overtime mode in helping Temple’s student athletes sure up each of their spring schedules, surely with the aid of an extra cup of coffee or two.
Despite the flashy picture painted on many cable television networks, the life of a college athlete is one of structure, commitment and little free time. Student-athletes have to deal with a full class load, take exams, write papers and labor on assignments and weekly doses of reading just like any one of Temple’s more than 27,000 undergraduate students. Then add an NCAA Division I sport to the mix. “I think a lot of people take for granted what student athletes do,” cross country
ACADEMICS PAGE 17
State-relateds argue against change Universities hold hearing in Harrisburg on Right-to-Know legislation. SEAN CARLIN The Temple News Representatives from Temple and the three other state-related universities argued against possible changes to the public universities’ exemptions under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know law at a hearing before the Sen-
ate’s State Government Committee in Harrisburg last week. Though a bill was introduced in the state Senate earlier this year, legislators are proposing changes to the law, which contains exemptions for the state-related institutions – Lincoln University, Penn State, Temple and the University of Pittsburgh – and does not treat those schools as state agencies. The law has been subject to much scrutiny because of Penn State’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal that began to unfold nearly
fter issuing a review of Temple’s finances in July, the credit-rating agency Moody’s Investors Services upheld the university’s Aa3 rating while lowering its future outlook to negative from stable in a report released to the public on Oct. 17. Moody’s issued the review due to “concern that the link between Temple University and the Temple University Health System may stress resources of the university with TUHS’s downgrade,” according to a July 16 report. Earlier this year, Moody’s downgraded Temple University Health System’s credit rating from Ba1 stable to Ba2 negative after the system incurred financial losses greater than expected in the Fiscal Year 2013. The report cited a “fundamentally weak credit profile,” increased dependence of state funding and challenges within the industry as reasons for the downgrade. Fellow credit-rating agency Standard & Poor’s also issued a downgrade to TUHS, from BBB- to BB+, while the outlook remained stable.
CREDIT PAGE 3
A Commitment to Service
two years ago. “Many people have registered with us the view that the law does not go far enough in its application to the state-related universities,” state Sen. Lloyd Smucker, chair of the State Government Committee, said at the hearing on Oct. 21. “This debate has been affected by the Sandusky situation, which has been a game-changer in several areas of state law and may prove to be for open records as well.” The university representa- Chris Richer (middle), a 15-year-old boy, was “adopted” by the football team. | COURTESY TEMPLE ATHLETICS
KNOW PAGE 3
For multiple sports, new 3-D printing to become new student tool additions to the team
The TECH Center will soon make 3-D printing available to all students. JERRY IANNELLI The Temple News From afar, it looks like any old office copy machine. Upon closer inspection, it’s clear that the whirring, boxy contraption permanently cemented into the concrete floor is building something, offering viewers a glimpse of its deliberate, painstaking processes through a concave glass window arching over the device’s top end. A printer head, virtually the same found in any home inkjet, is meticulously spraying
When objects are printed, they are nested on a supportive material so they take the correct form. | ABI REIMOLD TTN layer upon layer of resin into six U-shaped patterns of various colors, its progress invisible to the naked eye. A second, nearly identical device sits about two
feet to the machine’s left. In eight hours, the instrument on the right will have created six fully-functional whistles, each about 3 inches
in length, to be handed out as souvenirs to visitors at the Tyler School of Art’s 3-D printing laboratory. Stanley Lechtzin, founder and head of Tyler’s metals/jewelry/CAD-CAM program, has been at Temple since 1962 and helped bring these two printers to the art school in 2010, at the cost of more than $100,000 each. “We were definitely the first, but now it’s all over in virtually every discipline,” Lechtzin said, peering through prescription safety goggles. “Medicine, engineering, mathematics, you name it. People are developing new applications in great speed and great profusion. My students are going out and
3-D PAGE 7
EVAN CROSS Assistant Sports Editor Tyler Matakevich leads the nation in solo tackles with 82, 27 more than any other player. Even though he’s pretty busy anchoring the Temple defense, he finds time to talk to Chris Richer, a 15-year-old boy from Mullica, N.J. “He texts me all the time, just asking if I’m watching the football game, asking me if we’re going to win,” the sophomore linebacker said. “It’s an unbelievable feeling, just having the opportunity to have someone like that be a part of our team. It’s really something special that nobody really un-
derstands but us.” Richer was adopted by the Owls on Sept. 24. He is diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerve tissue. He was given his own helmet, jersey and locker and is welcome at all Temple practices and games. Richer was set up with the team through The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, an organization that brings together children with pediatric brain tumors
ADOPTIONS PAGE 17
INSIDE - The Service Issue Read about students and local organizations who are dedicated to giving back to the community.
NEWS - PAGES 2-3, 6
LIVING - PAGES 7-8, 14-16
LIFT supports the community
Nonprofit helps women in recovery
Layton receives multiple honors
Administrators say the university may look to go smoke-free in its next master plan, reflecting a national campus trend. PAGE 2
A volunteer organization is staffed by students who use their computer and life skills to help community members. PAGE 7
Temple alumna Kristin Gavin heads the nonprofit Gearing Up, which uses exercise as a means of healing. PAGE 9
Despite its losing record, Temple has one of the nation’s top punters on its roster. PAGE 20
Possible ban on smoking
OPINION - PAGES 4-5 Klein awards miss the point
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT - PAGES 9-13
Organization bonds athletes with ailing fans.
SPORTS - PAGES 17-20