LIVING
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014
CLIPPINGS
AROUND CAMPUS STUDY ABROAD SCHOLARSHIP WRITING WORKSHOP
The Writing Center will present a writing workshop for study abroad scholarship applicants on Thursday. Sponsored by Education Abroad, the session will focus on creating successful study abroad scholarship essays. The workshop will take place in Room 201 of the Tuttleman Learning Center and will run from 12:30 2 p.m. The event is open to all students, but registration is required. -Jessica Smith
THE ‘OTHER’ SIDE OF CONFLICT: ITALIAN WOMEN WRITERS AND WORLD WAR I
Students created structures of their own design in a Robotic Skills Academy session on Main Campus this past Saturday.| TAYLOR SPICER TTN
Building a bright future in STEM fields the Pennsylvania MESA programs, which include a Mobile App program and a summer internship experience. The programs are also designed to be of value to enrolled undergraduate students pursuing STEM degrees, Bracey said. When Pennsylvania MESA grew to serve 1,200 Philadelphia students in 2012, 15 Temple students in TUTeach were hired as instructors. In addition, those students eligible for work study can be hired as teaching assistants. Louvina Jackman, a senior mechanical engineering major, has been a part of STEM since coming to Temple, acting as one such studentinstructors. “I think ‘mentor’ is a good name for what our title is, because although we help [the students] out with the engineering aspect of it, we also help them out on a personal level, asking what they’re doing outside of this program and where they think they’ll end up going to college,” Jackman said. “We want to encourage them to stay within the math, science and
STEM PAGE 7
engineering field.” Kevin Layos, a fifth-year electrical engineering major, and Soukaina Barakat, a mechanical engineering alumna, agreed with Jackman. They said they help prepare students currently in the Robotic Skills Academy to take part in an eventual competition this spring, for which they will design a robotic arm. Freshman computer science major Iyasu Watts went through Pennsylvania MESA with Ball. He was employed in the technological field as a software developer at Enertia and is an intern at Lead iD. He said working in a STEM field has “always been a goal.” Ball, who was introduced to Pennsylvania MESA through Watts, called him “very tech-savvy.” “You don’t hear about a lot of these programs, and if you do, they’re very exclusive,” Watts said. “The reality is, so many more students should be doing this on this level. It teaches them skills and puts them on a path so that they do it on
their own, so they feel they actually want to do it.” Watts said he believes technology is essential to success in today’s job market, since it plays a role in nearly every industry. “Sometimes you need different people with different perspectives to tackle new problems,” he said. “The [field] needs to be culturally diversified, because people will have different ways of looking at a problem.” His opinion was reemphasized by John Leigh, the program coordinator for Pennsylvania MESA. Leigh, who’s been with the program for five months, said his goal is for the participating students to “really see themselves as innovators.” He said an aptitude for STEM fields could only strengthen a student’s skillset, particularly once they begin job searching. “Once [the students] come on to the campus, [they know] what they want to do,” Leigh said. “They have that confidence that they can make it and succeed.”
Alumnus Robert Figlin, Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology Oncology and professor of medicine and biomechanical sciences in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, recently pledged $50,000 to help establish two new scholarships for Temple students in STEM majors. Members, instructors and directors alike agreed that through educational opportunities and scholarships such as Figlin’s, the ultimate goal is to promote higher learning. Ball said that although she still wants to pursue writing as a main career focus, she thinks her time in the program will give her an advantage. “I like the idea that your idea amongst other person’s ideas can turn into a bigger idea,” Ball said, expressing the value of technology. “If you have knowledge in that arena, you can mix the two together.” Erin Edinger-Turoff can be reached at erin.edinger-turoff@temple.edu and on Twitter @erinJustineET.
GREEK LIFE
Alpha Xi Delta prepares to recruit The new sorority on Main Campus will initiate next week. LORA STRUM The Temple News Fashion designer Betsey Johnson, astronaut Jan Davis and “West Wing” actress Kim Webster are a few of the notable alumni of the sorority Alpha Xi Delta, which is preparing for its debut on Main Campus on Monday, Feb. 10. In addition to the sisters of distinction listed above, AXiD has 150,000 initiated members across 121 college campuses. Temple will become Chapter 122 of AXiD. AXiD will begin hosting information sessions about its core values and philanthropy goals with meetings throughout February in Room 200AB of the Student Center. “As an organization, Alpha Xi Delta inspires women to realize their
potential by providing opportunities for sisterhood, leadership, knowledge and service,” said AXiD colonization specialist Jaclyn Dziepak. Joining the National Panhellenic Conference umbrella of women’s sororities, AXiD will align its core values with that of many NPC sororities on Main Campus. These values include fostering intellectual, professional and personal growth, exemplifying the highest ethical conduct, instilling community responsibility and perpetuating fraternal growth, according to the NPC. Among its other goals are to establish academic standing for the new AXiD chapter and help sisters to become leaders on campus, within and outside of the sorority. “Temple and Alpha Xi Delta both have a rich tradition of inspiring young women to develop into knowledgeable and contributing citizens,” Dziepak said. As part of its goal to give back to the community, AXiD will support Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks is a
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
“What do you think
Temple should do to combat sexual assault on campus?
”
KELSEY DUBINSKY TTN
national organization that provides funds for research into the cure and management of autism. Temple’s AXiD chapter will support the organization through various fundraising and volunteer efforts, including hosting the “AmaXIng Challenge” event on Main Campus to help raise awareness of autism among students. AXiD members will also participate in Autism Awareness Month activities throughout April and attend the Walk Now for Autism Speaks event in Philadelphia every November. Though on-campus housing information has not been announced for AXiD, the sorority will hold all recruitment, sisterhood and volunteer activities on Main Campus. AXiD aims to recruit students of all ages, majors and backgrounds. The recruitment effort began the week of Jan. 27 with an information table in the Student Center. It will continue with Monday’s kickoff in Room 200AB in the Student Center. Supplementary informational meetings will also be held Feb. 11 and 19, with
“ Temple should educate how to drink responsibly and give students information on what they should do after a sexual assult.”
KELLY STECKLER
JUNIOR | ANTHROPOLOGY
special information sessions on Feb. 20 and 21. A special philanthropy information event will be held Feb. 13. All events will begin at 7 p.m., with the exception of special information sessions, which are by appointment only. After the information sessions, interested undergraduate students will begin the bid process with preference and selection gatherings on Feb. 22 and 23, respectively. At the end of the process, new AXiD members will begin the new member period, during which the 23 chapter officer positions are filled. These include the eight executive committee members who will make up the executive board. Those members who are elected to leadership positions will be responsible for managing AXiD affairs in the Temple University Greek Association.
- Jessica Smith
SIXTY VOCAB VISITS MAIN CAMPUS On Jan. 31, cofounder of Philadelphia-based company Sixty Vocab Kim Ramirez met with Temple’s head of the foreign language department, Louis Mangione. Kara Gualrapp of Sixty Vocab joined in the meeting. Sixty Vocab provides online foreign language learning for those learning English as a second language. Its name is derived from the notion that after learning 2,000 words, a speaker will know 60 percent of a language. The company uses computer gamelike activities to help English learners grasp conversational vocab. Those who use Sixty Vocab must guess what a word is in seven seconds after seeing, hearing and typing the word. After they guess correctly, they will see the word less. This memorization principle is the basis of Sixty Vocab’s instruction. Ramirez and Mangione discussed Sixty Vocab’s Instructor Dashboard program. The program is intended to help professors be aware of student progress and knowledge in and outside of the classroom. -Erin Edinger-Turoff
FULL SCHEDULES, FULL VOICES Adrienne Dafcik will lead a class through March 24, available for those with full schedules who want to learn how to sing. The classes, though informal, will focus on important singing skills such as posture, breath control, tone production and diction. Basic music skills will also be touched upon. The classes will take place on Mondays from 6-7 p.m. in Temple Music Prep at Temple’s Center City campus, located on the fifth floor of 1515 Market St. The class is open to anyone for the price of $185. After an introductory class, participators were sorted into class groups based on their skill level. The course is sponsored by the Temple University Music Preparatory Division. -Erin Edinger-Turoff
Lora Strum can be reached at lora.strum@temple.edu.
“Temple should have an information session during freshman orientation for all students to learn about sexual assault.”
BRIANNA PRIME
On Thursday, there will be a discussion with Temple Assistant Professor of Italian, Cristina Gragnani, about the subject of her new book that focuses on the role of Italian women writers during World War I. Gragnani received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2002 and is working on a collaborative project with Ombretta Frau about the material culture of late-19th century Italian women writers. The discussion will take place in the CHAT lounge on the 10th floor of Gladfelter Hall from 12:30 - 1:50 p.m. The event is open to all.
JUNIOR | STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
“One way is to educate every incoming freshman class and to discuss that there is more than one type of sexual assault - [it] can be verbal, [too].”
ANDREW SANDEFUR
SENIOR | MEDIA STUDIES