NEWS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013
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Lifting of female Fires at site last week ruled arson combat ban a multi-part process ARSON PAGE 1
open those positions to females and require special permission for the position to be closed to female applicants. The process is “dizzying,” Castelli said, but he hopes it will lead to a more transparent and open process for ALI WATKINS female Army members. The Temple News “There’s an excitement of positions being open,” he said. The January announcement “But there’s an anxiety and an that lifted a decades-long com- unknown that comes with the bat ban for women sent shock analysis.” waves across the nation’s armed Female ROTC cadets have forces. felt this anxiety, Castelli said, Although the announce- and are well aware of the long ment garnered enormous na- process ahead. While the immetional attention, the removal of diate result sounds good, Casthe ban, which formally dates telli said they know that there back to 1994, has local effects is still a long road of analysis on Main Campus. Specifically head. in the basement of Ritter Hall, “There’s a mix of reactions which Temple’s female ROTC from the female cadets call home. cadets,” Castelli For these said. “While students, many of they understand whom will serve that the Army in some capacity wants to reduce after graduation, restrictions for the ban signals female soldiers, a departure from they also unthe traditional derstand that military rhetothere’s going to ric. It could open be challenges Lt. Col. James Castelli / up as many as professor of military science associated with 236,000 new pothe changes.” sitions to female Although enlisters after an the decision analysis process is completed. may not directly affect many of Lifting the ban is a two-part Temple’s female cadets, Castelli process, which many people said the implications of the decidon’t understand, said Lt. Col. sion are wide-reaching. James Castelli, professor of mil“[The decision] says a itary science. While the immedi- great deal about the U.S. Miliate ban has been lifted, the Pen- tary and the entire Department tagon announcement requires of Defense...the U.S. Military, each armed services branch to including the Army, has a high conduct an extensive analysis of value of women’s role in the positions that were previously military, and women are a treclosed to women members. mendous asset to the military,” While many of those positions he said. “Women are an asset will be opened, he said, some that the Army and the military may still be closed to service- has to capitalize on, there’s so women. much that women have to offer “It’s important to under- that, by opening up a lot of these stand that it’s not an immediate 236,000 positions, we’re imlifting of the ban...It’s starting proving the tools that we have analysis to determine which to accomplish our mission.” qualifications are required for each of these [236,000] posiAli Watkins can be reached at tions,” Castelli said. allison.watkins@temple.edu or on Twitter @AliMarieWatkins. While the 1994 legislation restricted certain positions to females and required special permission for them to hold them, the new initiative will
The lift of the ban could open upward of 236,000 positions for female enlisters.
“There’s an
anxiety and an unknown that comes with the analysis.
”
across the city, Creedon said the site’s workers are 100 percent union and it’s a non-issue at Morgan Hall. “This is not even a jurisdictional dispute among the trades,” Creedon said. “The trades have been right there with us since day one as our partner on this job.” The fires all occurred during the daytime. On Feb. 11, three fires were reported at 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., on the 15th, 20th and 18th floors, respectively. The two fires on Feb. 12, occurred at approximately 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. and were on the 13th and 16th floors, respectively. Temple issued a TU Advisory in response to the fires on Feb. 13, which read that the fires were not serious and “federal and city authorities are investigating the incidents, which have been limited to the worksite and pose no threat to the Temple community.” Sean Carlin can be reached at sean.carlin@temple.edu or on Twitter @SeanCarlin84.
Firefighters stage during a fire on Feb. 11 at Morgan Hall. The high-rise has been the site of five fires that were deliberately set, officials have said. | JOHN MORITZ TTN
Grad. date falls on Jewish holiday GRADUATION PAGE 1
the provost and a school representative a day later, on May 17. Litwinoff said that she would not attend commencement as held on May 16, as she would be in synagogue. She said she was still undecided as to whether she would attend an alternative ceremony. Leebron Tutelman would not say whether the university ever considered the option of changing graduation, or if a change was still being discussed. But presently, no plans for change have been announced. The university has booked the Liacouras Center for May 16 and the venue is already booked for the following day, Leebron Tutelman said. “It is safe to say that many, many families made plans [for the scheduled date],” Hoffmann said. In the first days of break, Litwinoff formed a petition on Change.org, to gather 500 signatures in support of one of three alternatives she provided in the petition: changing the time or date of commencement to accommodate the holiday, or
changing the departmental or dates, and that many students’ school graduations. families would not be able to Litwinoff said that she sent attend. the petition out to her email conPhil Nordlinger, director of tacts and people on her Face- Hillel at Temple, Main Campus’ book page, and Jewish commuwas surprised at nity center, said the support that the center supcame with the ports students petition. Litwinwho feel a conoff also contacted flict between five Jewish memthe dates, and bers of the Board hopes that an of Trustees, three accommodation of which she will be reached. said responded, The center is including Leonnot opposard Barrack, ing the current who suggested commencement Sharon Litwinoff / date. she contact the senior theater major Anti-Defamation Leebron League. Tutelman said The ADL that the universent a letter to the university sity reached out to Temple Hilwith a calendar of Reform Jew- lel and Temple Chabad to hold ish holidays. services for the first two days of Hoffmann said that despite Shavuot, on May 14 and 15. the petition, no other student Litwinoff said she doesn’t has issued a formal complaint think the commencement will to the university about the date. be changed at this point, but Litwinoff said that she expects hopes that administrators will that some students would be un- look closer at religious calenable to attend by the conflicting dars for future dates.
“This is one of
those situations where it just doesn’t matter what your personal feelings are.
”
“It’s been a nightmare. [The university administrators] are very quick to send messengers to tell me how they personally are empathetic and feel for me and they want me to come to graduation, but that’s just wasted energy. This is one of those situations where it just doesn’t matter what your personal feelings are if you are not doing anything about it,” Litwinoff said, adding that she thinks it would take a major donor withdrawing support to get something changed. Leebron Tutelman said that the university traditionally schedules the commencement ceremony for the Thursday after the last Wednesday of finals. Shavuot, also known as the Festival of Weeks, celebrates the time when the Jewish people received the Torah. It is celebrated seven weeks after the second day of Passover. John Moritz can be reached at john.moritz@temple.edu or on Twitter @JCMoritzTU.
PASS schools disagreed over rally in fall and there is nothing for us to go off of other than agendas from past meetings. There is actually no structure to PASS.” Bartholomew and Lopez intend to develop PASS until they leave office this summer and hope to bring a form of unity back to the association. “We are four very different universities, four very different student bodies, and we have four very different mission statements and directions we are moving in,” Bartholomew said. “Even though we all have our own opinions on a lot of things and disagreed on a lot of things, at the end of the day, we are all still the same type of institution from the state’s perspective and we all need each other.” There is more than two months left in the spring semester for PASS representatives to schedule a spring conference and work on the future of the association.
PASS PAGE 1 the situation as “sheer and utter irresponsibility on the part of Penn State.” PASS was created by the four state-related universities in 2010 in response to Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed 50 percent cut to state appropriations. In 2011 and 2012, PASS held rallies in Harrisburg to support higher education funding. This year, Corbett proposed to flat-fund the universities, so Bartholomew and Lopez recognize that PASS is not the top priority. “Since the governor did propose flat-funding, it isn’t as urgent for us to meet right away,” Lopez said. “The rally idea has been tabled, considering the flat-funding proposal. That doesn’t mean we need to stop as state-related institutions though.” “The governor may have proposed flat-funding now for this year, but what is to say that additional funds won’t be on the chopping block in the future. We don’t want to show that we are at ease or comfortable,” Lopez added. At the fall conference, hosted by TSG on Nov. 10, there were disagreements between the representatives as to the future of the rally. However,
Darin Bartholomew, interim executive director of PASS, cites communication issues with student leaders from Penn State regarding PASS as uncertainty over the annual spring conference. | ABI REIMOLD TTN all four universities agreed that PASS needed to expand its mission beyond higher education funding. “What I would like to see out of PASS, other than just being a rally, is us taking the semester to actually figure out how we are going to build a
foundation. I am all about building a foundation for the future,” Lopez said. “We should focus on building a sturdy foundation, so that whatever student leaders are elected in a year, two years, or three years they know the principles on which PASS is founded and know the scope of
our advocacy.” Since his election as the interim executive director, Bartholomew has drafted bylaws to create more formality and structure, which he attributes as the biggest issue facing the association. “When it was created,
two or three years ago, it was because it was a proposed 50 percent cut, so there was a lot of initial emotional reactions to create PASS,” Bartholomew said. “There wasn’t actually a legitimate organization structure, there aren’t any bylaws, there is no mission statement,
Laura Detter can be reached at laura.detter@temple.edu.