NEWS temple-news.com
PAGE 2
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2012
Increased communication in preparation SANDY PAGE 1 James Creedon, senior vice president for construction, facilities and management, drove to Bethlehem, Pa., to find his home without power two days after the storm had passed. He led an operations team in hurricane proofing Main Campus in the days before the Sandy arrived. Vehicles had to be fueled, potential debris had to be cleared or secured, generators had to be prepared and staff – many of whom would weather the storm on Main Campus – had to be protected. “On a typical day we are off running operations and reporting to different people, but during these emergencies everyone had to come together and work together,” Creedon said. The complex plans and procedures needed to pull off such a feat largely arose during the drum up to Hurricane Irene a year earlier, Leone said. “This time we probably increased in our communication within the university and the executive leadership with the on site command having
these planning meetings ongoing while the storm was coming,” Leone said. “Absolutely everything from computer services to Student Affairs to Dining Services, all these groups that were in there, now we see how beneficial it was for us to work together.” The organization was apparent to freshman kinesiology major Shauni Kerkhoff, who said she was surprised to find dining hours at Johnson and Hardwick cafeteria unchanged in the midst of the wind and rain. “I come here like every day and it was really just running the same as it always had,” she said. “The staff was really polite and nice even though a lot of them had to stay the night there. One lady said she wasn’t getting off work until 12:30 that night.” Leone said officers pulled 12 and 24-hour shifts to make sure Main Campus was secure during the storm. He said one lesson moving forward to the next emergency would be providing more for the critical staff that stays behind. University planners see
ELECTION PAGE 1
Main Campus emerged from Hurricane Sandy with little damage, apart from some fallen branches, much like last year when Hurricane Irene hit the area.| JOHN MORITZ TTN such lessons as a silver lining in the storm clouds. Creedon noted a renewed interest in using social media to communicate with students and their families after receiving positive responses to the university’s outreach over Facebook and Twitter during the storm. “We had a team monitoring [social media] and respond-
ing so that people could feel a sense of calm,” he said. A wide spectrum of university officials will contribute to and evaluate innumerable after-action reports in the coming weeks, but officials said surprises are still possible. “There will always be something in it that will throw you a curve and you’ll have to
react to it,” Creedon said. “You hope you’ve got it covered next time.” Jad Sleiman can be reached at jad.sleiman@temple.edu.
Swift charged with TSG meeting focuses on Sandy disorderly conduct volunteerism, pres. election ARREST PAGE 1 of patrons leaving the bar at approximately 2 a.m. Thursday morning. When the group began to get rowdy, the officers approached it in attempts to disperse the crowd. After some pushing and fighting began, officers began to separate the crowd. Swift, however, refused to leave, Leone said. Leone said the male began yelling at the officers, stating, “I don’t have to leave,” among other things. “He got carried away by one of his friends, but he then came back yelling at officers,” Leone added. The defendant came back to the scene two or three times, Leone said, and, after he became unruly, he was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. Swift was taken to Temple Police headquarters where he was held for 45 minutes to an hour, Leone said. Swift was then given a citation and released. Leone said the officers worried others could follow suit and create a larger incident. Swift was arrested in February on similar charges, court records show.
Leone said during the Febuary incident, also outside the Draught Horse, Swift refused to leave the scene, Leone said. Swift was vocal about the recent incident on his Facebook page, posting the following status: “Always voice your opinion even if its [sic] the Police!” the post read, criticizing members of Temple’s police force. “I will always say what I gotta [sic] say to you dirty filthy liars AND I hope this gets back to yall…Sorry for the rant all but it was necessary.” Swift declined comment to The Temple News. Swift was a member of the past season of “The Real World,” which aired from June to September. He graduated from Fox School of Business with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and legal studies in January. Jenelle Janci can be reached at jenelle.janci@temple.edu. Sean Carlin contributed to this report.
Brandon Swift sits at the Bell Tower. The January 2012 alumnus was arrested last week. | JENELLE JANCI TTN
Groups step up in final days
Student Activities is running a food drive for hurricane victims this month. LAURA DETTER The Temple News Hurricane Sandy and the presidential election were the focus of this week’s Temple Student Government General Assembly meeting. After Sandy left many parts of New York and New Jersey in shambles, Student Activities, in conjunction with student organizations, are hosting an online food drive to benefit hurricane victims. Associate Director of Student Activities Chris Carey along with program director Adriane Reilly discussed the food drive, which will benefit the Salvation Army of New Jersey. The food drive, which runs from Nov. 5 to Dec. 5, is a competition between student organizations to see who can raise the largest amount with all the proceeds benefiting the Salvation Army of New Jersey. The drive was originally purposed as a November food drive due to the nature of the season, but after Hurricane Sandy the office redirected the purpose. “We figured this online module of food collection is a more effective way for student organizations to succeed in their food drives, so we had things all set to go when Sandy came through the Northeast. Then we decided to adapt the purpose of this food drive to benefit the people who are most affected,” Adriane Reilly said. The office is trying an online food drive, compared to a traditional food drive, to help unite the fundraising efforts of student organizations and attempt a new method. “The problem with doing it online is that you have to develop a new strategy around it,” TSG Student Body President David Lopez said. “A social media strategy with getting information out through Twitter, Facebook,
and email…It will be interesting to see how well it really works and I think we just need to push it and advertise it the right way.” Although Reilly does not have a monetary goal set for the total relief efforts, she does have one goal in mind. “I know Temple students are motivated and kind hearted and I would really like to be able to showcase the efforts of our student organizations,” Reilly said. “[The goal is] to just be able to show that our students noticed the need created by Hurricane Sandy and took action to help.” During the second portion of the meeting, Lopez, who is the former president of Temple College Democrats and was an intern at the White House during the summer, presented students with information about voting on Election Day. “Generally speaking, Temple students don’t realize how much of an impact they have in an election,” Lopez said. “When you look at the amount of students that go to this campus and the amount of students who turn out to vote, the numbers are not indicative
of what Temple students stand for.” Lopez discussed the polling locations, times and the standing of the voter identification law, which states that in Pennsylvania, it is not required that a voter present a valid form of identification, unless it is their first time voting at that particular location. Lopez said TSG is also having volunteers both in the residence halls and off-campus helping students learn the location of their designated polling place. “The goal of our university now needs to be motivating students to get out and vote and actually get them to care,” Lopez said. “We can have so much more strength as a university with the local legislators, if people actually looked at this university and the students who attend this university as a very important voting bloc.” Students can find out their registration status and polling location at canivote.org. Laura Detter can be reached at laura.detter@temple.edu.
the next [few] days is going to have everything to do with the outcome of this election.” During the half-hour presentation, Harris urged the audience to reach out to their communities in order to increase voter turnout. “There are two things that give constituencies power in politics, unfortunately,” Harris said. “The ability to write a check or turning out to vote.” “Vote is the expression of one’s voice,” Harris added. “Make sure everyone knows that their voice matters, take the role of leadership.” Outside of voter turnout, Harris spoke about how the election is framed in terms of public policy, not just the re-election of the president. In relation to students, Harris described how the president has dealt with student debt by doubling the funding for Pell Grants. She then touched on the issue of personal choice, and how individuals should be able to make decisions about their own bodies and lives. “Do we want a society that tells us that we are not capable of making a decision, that it would [be] made for us?” Harris said. In this regard, Harris asked law students to reflect upon the power of the president to appoint Supreme Court justices, its impact on public policy and the likelihood of new appointments in the next four years. Dylan Morpurgo, president of Temple College Democrats, said the presentation was “inspiring” and called Harris “really entertaining.” Morpurgo also highlighted the organization’s mobilization efforts in the final days before the election. He said TCD volunteers have been working to get out the vote on Obama’s behalf on Main Campus and, specifically, in residence halls. Vice Chair of the Temple University College Republicans Darin Bartholomew said his organization has been participating in phone banks in order to lobby for Gov. Mitt Romney and other Republican candidates. “There’s been a lot of enthusiasm in all races, not just the one at the top,” Bartholomew said. Bartholomew added that during the election season, TUCR has seen record attendance at its meetings and a lot of participation from its members in campaign-related events. Both groups were scheduled to hold a debate on Tuesday, Oct. 30, but had to cancel it because of Hurricane Sandy. While Bartholomew has been lobbying for the Republican candidate, he said he hopes that each side of the ticket respects the outcome of the election. “I hope that everyone is respectful, win or lose,” Bartholomew said. “It’s about what’s best for America at the end of the day.” Laura Ordonez can be reached at laura.ordonez@temple.edu.
CORRECTIONS
Chris Carey of Student Activities discussed a food drive at the TSG meeting Monday. | ABI REIMOLD TTN
The Temple News strives to be a newspaper of record by printing factually correct and balanced articles. Accuracy is our business, so when a mistake is made, we’ll correct it as soon as possible. Anyone with inquiries about content in this newspaper can contact Editor-in-Chief Angelo Fichera at editor@temple-news.com or 215.204.6737.