Volume 90, Issue 17

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temple-news.com VOL. 90 ISS.17

TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2012

Software will target donors

“That’s what you want in a president. Peter had the ability to seize the opportunities that were presented.”

KATE KELLY The Temple News As part of a three-part vision to increase philanthropic giving, as well as alumni donations and engagement, the Office of Institutional Advancement has begun implementing a new software this month. The software, called the Reeher Platform, allows higher education establishments to more effectively identify undetected opportunities for fundraising. Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement David Unruh said that his goals for his department are threefold. First, he hopes to grow alumni giving participation to 15 percent annually. Currently, participation is between 8 percent and 10 percent annually. “We effectively want to double over the next several years the annual fund participation,” Unruh said. “That’s a really important benchmark for a lot of reasons. It’s important because undergraduate alumni giving is one of the benchmarks for the quality of the institution.” “If more alumni give back to Temple, it’s a sign of confidence in the institution and it actually helps our ranking as well as drives our revenue back up,” Unruh added. The second goal Unruh has is to increase overall philanthropic support to $100 million a year, essentially doubling the current average. His third goal is centered on other forms of alumni participation, rather than simply economic contributions. “I want to dramatically grow our overall alumni engagement, the number of alumni that are engaged in some way, giving, coming to an alumni reunion, volunteering, supporting students, whatever it might be to be actively engaged with the university,” Unruh said. “I think that will make us an incredibly vibrant, dynamic place.” Unruh said the Reeher soft-

ANGELO FICHERA TTN

Decreases in state funding puts pressure on the university to find more donors.

David Adamany / former president

Setting Precedent Peter Liacouras’ storied presidency continues to shape the university, as it grows into its North Philadelphia home. Twelve years later, he still affects the university. SEAN CARLIN ANGELO FICHERA The Temple News

W

hen Temple’s 10th president takes the reigns, he or she will inherit an institution shaped by so many leaders who came before. Its founder. Its first female president. Its administrators. But the university nestled in North Philadelphia as it’s known today is largely a result of its seventh commander-in-chief, Peter Liacouras. The 80-year-old chancellor is perhaps the most influential leader of the university to come along since founder Russell Conwell, said Trustee James White, who was the executive vice president during Peter Liacouras’ presidency. History tends to agree. Thirty years after assuming his presidency, and a dozen years since stepping down, Peter Liacouras continues to

DONORS PAGE 2

OPINION RESPECT YORKTOWN, p. 5 After the decision to ban most student housing in Yorktown was upheld, Joel Faltermayer supports respecting the ban.

LIVING BOOTY DROP, p.7 Alexandra Olivier reports on BootyDrop.com, a website where college students can post, read and rank each others’ hot hookup tales.

A&E BOLLYWOOD FEST, p.9 Indian culture arrived in Philly with music and dance routines at this year’s PhillyFest.

SPORTS STREAKY SCORING, p.20 The Owls’ backcourt has led the men’s basketball team consistently in scoring this season.

embody Temple, even despite personal setbacks. Peter Liacouras suffered a stroke in November 2010, which left him partially paralyzed. Still, he is able to understand his surroundings and greet friends and family with a smile and a kiss on the hand despite his difficulty communicating, his 46-year-old son Gregory Liacouras said in an email. He’s made it to most basketball and football games this year, too. Gregory Liacouras said that, true to his father’s tenacious character, Peter Liacouras spends weekdays doing physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and aquatics therapy. “Everyone is hopeful that down the road, with all of his therapy, that his brain can be rewired and he can at least get some speech back,” Gregory Liacouras said. “Through the therapy, he is maintaining, and even adding, strength to both his strong and weak sides.” Before his stroke, Peter

Liacouras was still active at the university, in his chancellorship and as a trustee, raising money for Temple. He was in the process of writing his memoir. He also traveled at least twice a year to Greece, where he has a vacation home, and continued to swim more than a mile in the Mediterranean Sea, his son said. When Peter Liacouras joined Temple’s faculty as an associate law professor in 1963, the Philadelphia native had an impressive résumé under his belt. He attended University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, Harvard University, Yale University, College of William & Mary and the Fletcher School of Law & Dilpomacy. He moved up the ladder quickly, becoming dean of Temple Law School in 1972. When Marvin Wachman, the university’s sixth president, stepped down in 1982, Peter Liacouras was named president. Despite a reported budget

shortfall of $52 million, Peter Liacouras spent his initial years making hard decisions to increase revenues and decrease excess spending. When he wasn’t delivering a balanced budget, he was perfecting the university’s appeal. Under his presidency, Peter Liacouras instructed Tyler School of Art to adopt a seminar to create a crest for the Temple community to rally under. The result was the inception of the iconic Temple “T.” In line with his marketing skills, Peter Liacouras advertised national commercials for Temple in the early 1980s, some using alumnus and Trustee Bill Cosby, to increase Temple’s prominence. He put banners along North Broad Street, marking the university’s place in the city. Peter Liacouras envisioned Temple Town, a residential campus equipped with resources necessary for stu-

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TSG survey to assess gen-ed A survey will be available this semester to evaluate the general education program. KHOURY JOHNSON The Temple News Utilizing its role as a liaison between students and university administrators, Temple Student Government is set to debut a survey dissecting student perception of the general education program. The five-minute online questionnaire survey is the brainchild of TSG Director of Academic Affairs Zack Groff, and has been in the works since December 2011. Groff considers the unorganized gripes concerning gen-ed classes as one of the primary reasons for initiating the survey, rather than relying on feedback from students in TSG general assembly meetings and casual conversations around ampus. Its purpose is to produce a more concise consensus of student opinion regarding the gen-ed program, providing TSG members with more factual data when advocating in front of university officials and administrators after the survey’s results are compiled into a tangible reportlike format. “We’re hoping to put together a voice of the students,” Groff said. “We don’t have anything specific at this point, so we developed this survey to get more specific responses.” The survey consists of 10 “ranking” questions, and a voluntary open response section where students can voice their opinions. Groff added that these specific and organized responses are the missing links in the gened equation. “With gen-ed, I don’t see the student voice articulated well,” Groff said. “All that’s been articulated is that students are fed up with gen-ed, but nothing really in much detail.” Groff said various university officials were aware of the fact that some students were generally unhappy with gen-ed

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Improvement district draws mixed opinions A district to clean and secure the area near Main Campus was discussed last week. SEAN CARLIN Assistant News Editor North Central Philadelphia residents met Jan. 25, in the Gesu School library at 17th and Thompson streets in response to City Council President Darrell Clarke’s proposed “North Central Neighborhood Improvement District.” The meeting, hosted by the Community Land Trust Corporation, gauged the residents’ opinions on development projects before focusing Clarke’s proposal. The main point of contention for residents is a fee that would be imposed on

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property owners in the area to fund the district, along with an undisclosed amount of money from Temple. Hillel Hoffman, assistant director of university communications, said Temple would announce its contribution within the calendar year. “Enough is enough, I mean when you are just taking everybody’s money,” Vivian Vanstory, president and founder of the CLTC, said. “We have the Liberty Bell here, there’s no liberty.” Speakers at the meeting included Maria Yuen and John Yuen of the Chinatown North section of the city. A similar bill was introduced in their neighborhood and was defeated as a result of pressure from residents, led by the Yuens. “What’s unfair about this bill is that they sell this bill as

cleaner neighborhoods...and green neighborhoods,” John Yuen said. “Who does not want that?” The Yuens explained the process of how the improvement districts are implemented and how they were taxed on top of their real estate tax for the services from the district. Maria Yuen expressed concern that such districts take away from the tradition of the neighborhoods. “I never knew who these people were. They wanted my money. So they have to come to my neighborhood, tell me how to run my neighborhood, how to clean up my neighborhood,” Maria Yuen said. “So, what I’m saying to you is that people SEAN CARLIN TTN have to take charge of their own State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas speaks to North Philadelphia neighborhoods.” residents about the proposed neighborhood improvement district that aims to improve the community landscape. DISTRICT PAGE 2

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