Volume 90, Issue 29

Page 1

The Temple News will return to stands in the fall. Check temple-news.com for continued coverage and breaking news.

temple-news.com VOL. 90 ISS. 29

TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2012

DROPPING THE BALL The Temple News explores the university’s place in the Big East from 1991 to 2004, what led to its 2001 exit and Temple’s recent re-entry. PART ONE OF TWO

JOEY CRANNEY BRIAN DZENIS The Temple News

J

ohn Chaney had never spoken at a Board of Trustees meeting before. The legendary coach who led the men’s basketball team for 24 years was called in front of the board at a meeting on March 13, 2001, less than two weeks after it was announced on March 1, 2001, that the Big East Conference voted to kick Temple out as a football member for not meeting standards outlined by the conference. Chaney was asked to give the President’s Report in place of President David Adamany, who took over for former President Peter Liacouras in August 2000. Chaney remarked that the Big East had treated Temple, a football-only founding member, in a mean-spirited way and that the conference has a history of disrespecting the university. While Chaney’s frustrations with the Big East were understandable at the time, the people most responsible with improving the university’s relationship with the conference were sitting in the room with him. Through a compre-

OPINION OPEN MINDED, p.4 Lauren Hertzler argues the importance of gaining exposure outside of likeminded areas.

hensive look at records and legiate athletics. multiple interviews, The A DECADE OF DECLINE Temple News found that the In 1990, the Big East Big East’s ongoing concerns began to sponsor Division with Temple were lost in the I football, and its inaugural shuffle in the transitional pe- season in 1991 had Temple riod between Liacouras and as one of the initial members. Adamany. In addition, the The Owls were competitive investigation found that Ada- in 1990 as coach Jerry Berndt many wasn’t as motivated led the team to a 7-4 record to improve in its final athletics as season as his predecesan indepensor. In 2004, dent before when a task entering the force was Big East, but created to something decide on the else was gofuture of the ing on that football team, year: a facAdamany ulty strike voted to disthat would band the prodamage the gram when it university’s needed him George Moore / finances for the most. senior vice president, the rest of the university counsel T h e decade. Big East re“We lost entrance looks bright for a quarter of our freshman Temple, which re-enters the class and that had an impact conference for football this for five or six years, so we season and all sports effec- didn’t have much in the way tive in 2013, and is a big ac- of financial resources. We complishment for the athletic were strapped,” said George department. But before the Moore, senior vice president turnaround, the university of university counsel and secstruggled to stay competitive retary to the Board of Trustin the Big East during the ees. “We had another down1990s to such a great extent turn in demographics from that it led to a conference for- ’94 to ‘95 and we had to have mally voting out one of its layoffs, so we didn’t have the members for the first – and money to invest in anything: currently only – time in the the campus, athletics or any102-year history of intercol- thing in the ‘90s.”

“We didn’t have the money to invest in anything: campus, athletics or anything else in the ‘90s.”

A&E GLBT PHILLY, p.9 The Pop Up Museum of Queer History comes to Philadelphia’s William Way Center.

SPORTS FIGHT BACK, p.18 In Part II, TTN continues to chronicle the reasons for Temple’s Big East exit and how it fought to re-enter.

BIG EAST PAGE 3 Illustration Lucas Ballasy

Community concerns have prompted many attempts to improve relations and the area. ANGELO FICHERA VALERIE RUBINSKY The Temple News As students increasingly pursue a more traditional college experience, Main Campus finds itself in the middle of accommodating an expanding university’s needs while maintaining a cordial relationship with those who call North Philadelphia home. The university estimates that the number of students living on or near Main Campus has tripled since 2002. Approximately 4,500 students currently live in university-owned housing on Main Campus, and another estimated 7,000 live near

Main Campus. For some community members, it’s an old story: Seeking an education in an urban environment, suburban students flocked to Main Campus. When campus housing couldn’t accommodate the influx of students, developers pounced on the opportunity to offer housing in the residential area surrounding campus. “The money came first. And then they came in, in a wave,” one resident said at a recent community meeting. But it’s the ripple effects – trash, noise and substance abuse, among others – that have prompted several efforts to take a serious look this year at what needs to be done to ease tensions and promote a more positive relationship between longtime residents and students. From a proposal to ban off-campus student housing to

COMMUNITY PAGE 2

Survey release a longtime coming The GLBT needs survey, administered last Spring, is set to be public within a week. SEAN CARLIN Assistant News Editor After nearly a year and a half of waiting, Main Campus is set to see the results of a survey measuring the GLBT climate at Temple. William Bergman, vice president and chief of staff, said that the survey results will be released soon. The survey, first announced in Fall 2010, aimed to assess the needs of the GLBT community on Main Campus. The data was collected through a survey administered by Rankin & Associ-

ates Consulting in Spring 2011 and was received by the university in Fall 2012, Bergman said. “It would have been about November, December [2011] we finally started to get a product,” Bergman said. “We disseminated it, we met with the diversity committee of the [Board of Trustees] and we shared with them the results, an overview of what we’ve found and they recently signed off on what we told them about and that’s why we’re ready to roll now.” Scott Gratson, director of the communications program and a GLBT advocate, said that the distribution of the data is far overdue. “We came back in August [2011] and kept waiting to hear about the data,” Gratson said. “My concern with the data is

SURVEY PAGE 2

Home robbery linked to drug possession Suspects robbed students’ house on the 1500 block of Page Street Sunday.

LIVING TURNING TASSLES, p.7 The Temple News profiles graduating seniors in a commencement-themed section.

In the arms race that is college football, Temple fell behind. The Owls kicked off a string of losing seasons and did not win a game against a Big East opponent until 1995. “Temple was in the Big East, but everything else wasn’t,” current football coach Steve Addazio, who was an assistant coach at Syracuse, a fellow Big East school, from 1995 to 1998, said at a recent board meeting. “Temple didn’t have what we had.” The budget, the practice facilities, the attendance, even a stadium to play in, were not up to par with Temple’s peers in the Big East. For a practice field, the team had to share a grass field adjacent to thencalled McGonigle Hall with the university’s other sports teams as well as Campus Recreation and individual students. “It is grossly inadequate,” Liacouras wrote about the field in a 1998 discussion paper about the football team. “Continuous and multiple use leaves it in poor shape and with unpredictable availability for safe football practices. No other [Division I] football program can make that statement.” The team also struggled with having a consistent home field, bouncing back

Neighbor relations a multi-level effort

AMELIA BRUST The Temple News Philadelphia Police reoprted an armed robbery that took place in a private apartment on the 1500 block of Page Street at 10 p.m. Sunday, April 29. Five Temple student occupants were robbed at gunpoint, but did not report any injuries, according to a TU Advisory issued yesterday, April 30. Philadelphia Police reported cell phones, cash and a “large amount” of marijuana was stolen from the house. One student occupant

NEWS DESK 215-204-7419

was arrested for possession of illegal drugs with the intent to deliver. Officer Tanya Little, of the Philadelphia Police Public Affairs Office, said drugs were the primary reason for the robbery. “Absolutely, this wasn’t a random Temple house,” Little said. “They knew what was in there.” Little added that the intruders “would have to have some kind of previous contact” with the occupants. Occupants at the house were unavailable for comment. Neighbor Steven Davis said he was home when the invasion occurred. “I was on the phone with my mom. Once I hung up with her, I came to look outKATE McCANN TTN side for a second and there Five Temple students were robbed Sunday night, April 29, when armed robbers entered the were police everywhere,” residence and stole money, drugs and cell phones.

ROBBERY PAGE 2

NEWS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM


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