OPINION Zack Scott offers a satirical eulogy by sharing his stories of the now-defunct Temple Garden.
temple-news.com VOL. 91 ISS. 11
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2012
PROJECT HAITI, p. 7
A RUN THROUGH HISTORY, p. 20
An orphanage in Haiti gets funded by Temple’s student group, Project Haiti.
The cross country teams are primed for their Big East move next season after 19 years of extinction.
California Shop leaves now-Temple property vacant Temple now owns official the property left empty by Temple stumps Garden’s closure. for Obama A pro-Obama event highlighted the last week of campaigning.
LAURA ORDONEZ The Temple News
The now vacant and shabby five-story building on the 1500 block of North Broad Street,
LAURA ORDONEZ The Temple News
between Rite Aid Pharmacy and Zavelle Bookstore, was recently purchased by Temple as part of its 20/20 plan, the university’s framework for campus development. The only lasting business in the building’s history was Temple Garden, a Chinese restaurant established in 1991, which closed recently. Throughout the years, the building accommodated myriad businesses, from beauty and
nail salons to an optical store, along with residential apartments. Temple Garden was the only business in place by the time Temple bought the building in August 2012. The university negotiated an extended lease with the restaurant owners, which started in October 2009 under the prior building owner and ran until Sept. 30, 2012.
Richard Rumer, associate vice president for business services, said the restaurant’s owners received adequate notice to evacuate the location. “However, they were delinquent tenants and left the place a disgrace,” Rumer said. Rumer said the university dealt with late rent and tax payments from the owners, in addition to unwillingness to maintain regular communications
Laura Ordonez can be reached at laura.ordonez@temple.edu.
MTV star arrested near bar
Owl pride takes diverse shape in director’s collection and students’ décor trends.
The final week of campaigning before Election Day was highlighted by an appearance from California Attorney General Kamala Harris as organizations focused on voter turnout initiatives. Harris visited the Beasley School of Law on Thursday, Nov. 1, on behalf of President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign to mobilize his supporters into action. After introductory remarks from Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who is also an adjunct professor at Temple, Harris took the stage in Klein Hall to address more than 50 attendees composed of law students, alumni and community members. “The outcome of the election can come down to a few votes in a swing state,” Harris said. “What you do in
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with school officials. Once the lease expired, maintenance workers evaluated the location and reported it stank of food waste, Rumer said. The owners of Temple Garden could not be reached for comment. Rumer said the university does not have current plans for the building.
Brandon Swift was detained and charged with disorderly conduct last week. JENELLE JANCI A&E Editor “The Real World: St. Thomas” cast member and 2012 alumnus Brandon Swift, 23, was arrested Nov. 1, outside the Draught Horse on Cecil B. Moore Avenue. Deputy Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said in an email that officers were monitoring a large crowd Brian Forman, executive director of Computer Services, collects owl figurines. For more, see P. 14.| ABI REIMOLD TTN
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Lessons from Irene applied while preparing for Sandy Administrators were in unmarked territory during Hurricane Irene last August. JAD SLEIMAN The Temple News As Hurricane Irene curved menacingly up the Eastern seaboard in 2011 while university students were making preparations for a new semester, Temple officials were largely facing a big decision. By the time Sandy made landfall in New Jersey as a tropical storm last week, Temple was ready.
Such powerful storms seldom threaten Main Campus, providing university leadership with unique lessons in emergency preparedness when they do. Irene didn’t affect classes when it rolled through the area in August 2011, but it did force planners from a wide cross section of the university to have serious questions that led to them having ready answers when Sandy forced the campus to close on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30. “We really weren’t sure what was going to happen,” Deputy Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said, referring to the days and hours leading up to Hurricane
Irene. “It was virgin territory.” A series of university meetings held before last year’s storm discussed worst case scenarios involving everything from flooding to power outages and whether Temple’s buildings could stand up to sustained hurricane force winds more commonly found whipping waves on Southeastern coastlines. Last week’s “Frankenstorm,” much like Irene, largely spared Temple and Philadelphia as a whole. Still, many in the nearby area experienced power outages, flooding and fallen tree limbs.
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While Hurricane Sandy caused minimal damage to Main Campus, administrators prepared for it with lessons from Hurricane Irene in August 2011. | JOHN MORITZ FILE PHOTO
City controller report yields little results City controller said the city needs time to react and make changes accordingly. CINDY STANSBURY The Temple News
Construction projects near campus were the subject of a report by the city controller in October, which highlighted a lack of respect for residents. | CINDY STANSBURY TTN
NEWS DESK 215-204-7419
Nearly a month after the city controller issued a scathing report on developers’ treatment of the area around Temple due to lack of enforcement by city departments, developers and neighbors report little change in the area. The report by City Controller Alan Butkovitz divulged a
NEWS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
vast amount of issues involv- tution, it takes a while for things ing the way conto happen.” struction activity Butkovitz is run in North said he needs Philadelphia. to provide the Local decity with an veloper and opportunity to vice president improve condiof Temple Area tions. Property Associ“ We ’ v e ation Nick Pizzogot to give the la said he hasn’t city a good noticed anything faith chance to change so far. get results,” he “I haven’t said. “We will Nick Pizzola / developer at some point noticed anything first hand,” Pizgo back and rezola said. “It got the attention of inspect construction sites, but the city, but, like any large instiREPORT PAGE 3
“It got the
attention of the city, but, like any large institution, it takes a while for things to happen.
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