Vol. 97 Iss. 18

THE TEMPLE NEWS

MOVERS AND SHAKERS MOVERS AND SHAKERS MOVERS MOVERSAND ANDSHAKERS SHAKERS MOVERS AND SHAKERS VOL 97 // ISSUE 18 FEBRUARY 5, 2019 temple-news.com @thetemplenews

MOVERS AND SHAKERS NEWS, PAGE 2 Joshua Hupperterz challenges his firstdegree murder conviction.

OPINION, PAGE 12 A columnist argues that students should speak up about their beliefs in class.

Read our edition dedicated to people making waves on campus and beyond.

FEATURES, PAGE 16 A student created a handheld device to reduce anxiety attacks through vibrations.

SPORTS, PAGE 24 The NCAA Tournament is unlikely for men’s basketball, after blowing leads in home losses.

NEWS PAGE 2

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

THE TEMPLE NEWS A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

Gillian McGoldrick Editor in Chief Kelly Brennan Managing Editor Julie Christie Digital Managing Editor Evan Easterling Chief Copy Editor Greta Anderson News Editor Grace Shallow Deputy Investigations Editor Alyssa Biederman Deputy Campus Editor Will Bleier Deputy City Editor Jayna Schaffer Opinion Editor Laura Smythe Features Editor Zari Tarazona Deputy Features Editor Michaela Althouse Deputy Features Editor Michael Zingrone Co-Sports Editor Sam Neumann Co-Sports Editor Claire Wolters Intersection Editor Maria Ribeiro Director of Engagement Siani Colon Asst. Director of Engagement Dylan Long Co-Photography Editor Luke Smith Co-Photography Editor Madison Seitchik Web Editor Ian Walker Visuals Editor Claire Halloran Design Editor Phuong Tran Advertising Manager Kelsey McGill Advertising Manager Daniel Magras Business Manager

The Temple News is an editorially independent weekly publication serving the Temple University community.

Unsigned editorial content represents the opinion of The Temple News.

Adjacent commentary is reflective of their authors, not The Temple News.

Visit us online at temple-news.com.

Send submissions to letters@temple-news.com.

The Temple News is located at: Student Center, Room 243 1755 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122

ON THE COVER COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS

CORRECTIONS The article “Second Sanctuary: Undocumented family relocates to Germantown church” misstated how many people in Philadelphia are at risk of deportation and living in sanctuary. There are 10 people at risk of deportation in sanctuary. It also misstated the number of families that live in the Germantown Mennonite Church.

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 Gillian McGoldrick at editor@temple-news.com or 215-204-6736.

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

CRIME

Joshua Hupperterz to challenge conviction He was found guilty of killing Jenna Burleigh and filed a postsentence motion on Jan. 24.

BY GRETA ANDERSON News Editor Joshua Hupperterz, who was sentenced to life in prison on Jan. 17 for killing Temple University junior Jenna Burleigh in 2017, is challenging his first-degree murder conviction.

“He’s not considering it, he’s doing it,” said David Nenner, who represented Hupperterz in the nearly two-week trial in early January.

Nenner filed a post-sentence motion — the first step toward an appeal — with the Court of Common Pleas on Jan. 24, according to court documents.

Nenner expects the appeal will be denied and sent to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania for review.

Nenner will argue that Dr. Kenneth Levy, a psychiatrist with knowledge on the effects of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax, should have told jurors that combining Xanax and alcohol could lead to homicidal behavior.

The defense is also raising whether police had probable cause to search Hupperterz’s apartment on Sept. 1, 2017 — a search that found evidence of Hupperterz’s and Burleigh’s DNA in blood samples.

Nenner maintained during the trial that Hupperterz’s roommate, Jack Miley, strangled Burleigh to defend Hupperterz after Miley’s night of drinking and taking Xanax. Nenner argued the drug can lead to violence and memory loss when mixed with alcohol.

Miley testified that he woke up to Hupperterz cleaning up blood in their 16th Street apartment on Aug. 31, 2017, several hours after Burleigh was murdered, but maintained that he did not have anything to do with her death.

Court of Common Pleas Judge

Glenn Bronson allowed Levy to testify on Jan. 16 but prohibited discussion on whether the drug and alcohol could cause Miley to have homicidal behavior.

Levy testified that it was possible Miley blacked out and forgot events during the time of Burleigh’s death.

Forensic analysts from the Philadelphia Police Department testified they found numerous blood samples that matched both Hupperterz’s and Burleigh’s DNA while searching his apartment.

They did not identify traces of Miley’s DNA in any of the more than 15 blood samples taken from the apartment, and Miley’s bedroom was one of the only places in the apartment without evidence of blood.

On Feb. 28, Bronson will review the post-sentence motion on whether the guilty verdict was fair given the evidence presented during the trial.

Because the evidence weighed heavily against Hupperterz, Nenner said he expects Bronson will deny his motion.

Bronson sentenced Hupperterz on Thursday to one-and-a-half to three additional years in prison for possession with intent to deliver, according to court documents.

Police testified during the nearly two-week murder trial that they found 10 to 15 pillow case-sized bags of marijuana and $20,000 in cash in Hupperterz’s apartment in the days following Burleigh’s murder. Several witnesses testified that Hupperterz sold them marijuana.

Hupperterz’s sentences are now life without parole, with an additional four-and-a-half to nine years for possession of the instrument of crime, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, plus the one-and-a-half to three years for drug possession. greta.anderson@temple.edu @gretanderson

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NEWS PAGE 4

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Volunteer work leads student to new career path Imani Bing, who works in local help to improve education, she said.

“My goal within my future career schools, is known for her hard path is to bridge the gap between schools work and determination

BY ALEXIS ROGERS For The Temple News Imani Bing rises and grinds.

The senior wakes up at 4:45 a.m. to catch the first bus available to work at a restaurant in 30th Street Station at 5:17 a.m. She hops on a second bus at 5:35, works for about six hours, then heads back to Temple University for class.

After class most nights, she’ll have another shift, or she’ll volunteer at local schools, mentoring North Philadelphia youth.

“It always seems like I have something going on,” Bing said.

It was Bing’s passion for volunteering that inspired her to radically shift her college degree.

She has always been passionate about education and serving those in need, she said, but she entered Temple University as a sport and recreation major.

In her freshman and sophomore years, she interned with a nonprofit that hosts after-school programming at Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey Public School, a school for kindergarten through eighth grade on Diamond Street near 15th, where she played sports and served as a mentor.

The experience led her to realize she wanted to pursue a degree in education, and she departed from the School of Sports, Tourism and Hospitality Management after becoming interested in community organizing.

As a sophomore, Bing transferred into the College of Education to focus on urban education, becoming a human development and community engagement major. Her classes focus on the structure and issues of education in urban communities and policy and reform that could News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

and communities,” Bing said. “I have this idea that the home, school and community are all connected.”

Now a senior, Bing is interning with a school counselor and teacher at The U School, a charter high school on 7th Street near Norris that focuses on student development in skills for college and careers while emphasizing their core values: “love, dream and do.”

Bing works with students in the classroom and provides them with both academic and non-academic support.

She enjoys working with high schoolers because she can be a positive mentor to them, she said.

“That makes high school my favorite because you get to see them go to the next level,” Bing said. “That’s the end goal for me, is getting students to get into college.”

Aside from her classes and internship, Bing volunteers as a Young Life Wyldlife leader every Monday at the People for People Charter School on Broad Street near Brown since her freshman year. Young Life is a national Christian youth organization. Her role is to provide a safe space for youth to express themselves, she said.

On Main Campus, Bing serves as the co-president of the Human Development and Community Engagement Club, which provides professional development, networking and service opportunities for students in the major.

While it can be difficult to manage her busy schedule, Bing said, it has helped her learn time management as she continues to work toward achieving her professional goal of becoming a community organizer.

“It’s a grind, it’s a constant, constant, grind,” she said. “It’s necessary until I reach my goal when I graduate and get

LUKE SMITH / THE TEMPLE NEWS Imani Bing, a senior human development and community engagement major, sits on the steps of Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey Public School on Diamond Street near 15th on Monday. Bing volunteers here.

a job.”

Joshua Dicker, who met Bing during freshman orientation in 2015, praised Bing’s dedication.

“Imani is one heck of a woman,” said Dicker, a senior sport and recreation management major. “She is taking classes and working multiple jobs. She definitely has the mindset of being persistent with what she wants and what she gets.”

Bing always encourages others to do their best, Dicker said. She’s very approachable and supportive and has helped Dicker grow spiritually since they met.

“She’s definitely opened my eyes to thinking differently when it comes to problems or things we go through as college students,” Dicker added.

Bing is someone who contributes to the campus community, said Cierra Cubero, a senior media studies and produc-

tion major who met Bing through social media before starting at Temple.

“She is very determined,” Cubero said. “That’s one thing about her. She likes being independent. She sacrifices a lot and she works hard.”

After graduating from Temple in May, Bing hopes to attend the University of Southern California to pursue a master’s degree in social work. alexis.rogers@temple.edu @alexismrogers Alyssa Biederman and Luke Smith contributed reporting.

Editor’s Note: Joshua Dicker was a freelance photographer for The Temple News. He had no part in the reporting and editing of this story.

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NEWS PAGE 5

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Harm-reduction advocate ‘affirms everyone’ Jerry Stahler has cmmitted the data analysis and sharing subcomdecades to fighting substance mittee of Mayor Jim Kenney’s opioid task force. use disorder.

BY WILL AMARI For The Temple News One semester, three-quarters of Jerry Stahler’s class raised their hands when he asked if they had friends and family die from a drug overdose.

In 2015, he attended the funeral of his daughter’s friend, who died of a drug overdose, and said his own family members suffered from substance use disorders.

“It’s really become an unusual perspective because it’s hitting me everywhere,” Stahler said.

Stahler, 66, is in his 34th year at Temple University and has dedicated almost all of his career to helping people with substance use disorder in a city where more than 1,200 people have died of drug overdoses in 2017.

Stahler has taught in the Department of Geography and Urban Studies for more than two decades and written his share of research on drug addiction and substance use disorders in urban areas.

“It’s an area I’ve been engaged with... community engagement, nonprofit organizations,” he said. “And I have family members who are in recovery, so it’s affected my personal life.”

He is the longest-running instructor of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, a semester-long course where about 15 Temple students and 15 incarcerated students engage in dialogue centered around criminal justice, inequality and freedom.

He also sits on the board of Prevention Point Philadelphia, a nonprofit harm-reduction organization that provides resources for people with substance use disorder. He once served on

@TheTempleNews

He assisted with the task force’s plan to create the country’s first safe-injection site, Safehouse. If it is funded, Safehouse would be the country’s first safe-injection site and would provide overdose prevention, treatment services and a safe place for people to use drugs under medical supervision.

Stahler is also on the board of directors at Gaudenzia, which helps people who suffer from drug and alcohol dependence, and serves on the university’s opioid task force.

As a member of Temple’s task force, Stahler organized faculty across the university to conduct substance abuse research, said Dr. Ellen Unterwald, the director for Temple’s Center for Substance Abuse Research. Stahler was instrumental to the research arm of the task force, she said.

“He’s played many different roles with the university,” Unterwald said.

“His research is also outstanding.”

Stahler testified to the Philadelphia City Council’s Committee of Public Health and Human Services in 2016, delivering his thesis on drug overdose and drug prevention.

Stahler suggested the city label the opioid epidemic as a public health emergency, provide funding for overdose prevention and address how benzodiazepines, or anti-anxiety medications, have contributed to Philadelphia’s overdose deaths. He also promoted the widespread distribution of naloxone, an overdose reversal nasal spray, to not only first responders but also to organizations, friends and family members.

Two years after earning his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Temple in 1983, the university invited Stahler back as associate vice provost for research. In this role, he helped create policies that

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Jerry Stahler, a geography and urban studies professor, holds a book from his collection of material about substance use disorder on Jan. 25 inside his office in Gladfelter Hall.

encouraged research and assisted faculty members with grant proposals.

In 1991, the university allowed Stahler to choose the department in which he wanted to teach. He decided to branch away from traditional psychology and pursue geography and urban studies in 1992.

“It seemed to be a very good match,” Stahler said. “It’s a department that’s very interdisciplinary, so I could pursue my interest in urban social problems particularly around addiction.”

Dean of Students Stephanie Ives met Stahler five years ago when he asked her to join a panel for his Drugs in Urban Society course.

“He makes you feel very comfortable talking about what can be a very difficult and very emotional issue,” Ives said. “He affirms everyone comes from a different

perspective, and everyone has something very valuable to contribute to the conversation.”

As someone who has had the opioid epidemic affect his loved ones, Stahler makes sure his students show compassion to those who have substance use disorder.

“The way someone acts during addiction is not who they actually are,” Stahler said. “Be as helpful as you can.”

Stahler’s compassion for others is what makes him a valuable faculty member, Ives said.

“His energy is so auspicious,” she added. “He is just a kind and warm, open, professor. He is so not judgemental. ...He’s just a wonderful man.” will.amari@temple.edu @wileewillie

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

NEWS PAGE 6

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

TOP 6 TEMPLE OFFICIALS YOU SHOULD KNOW These top administrators waitlist.

“Not only are the participants transinfluence many aspects of formed and empowered, but also I am student life. Get to know them.

BY GILLIAN McGOLDRICK Editor in Chief For each of Temple University’s 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students, they’ve paved a small part of the school out for themselves. Whether it’s in their academics in their school or college or a student organization they’ve found their passion within, most students have found a space where they feel most comfortable to grow.

But without many Temple administrators who work each day to carve space for students to have these opportunities, it could be unattainable. The Temple News compiled a list of the top six Temple officials you may not know who are shaping the student experience every day.

1. Donna Gray

Position: risk reduction & advocacy services manager for Campus Safety Services Role in student life: Every day, Gray meets with survivors and victims of crimes to help outline paths to their recovery.

Gray is one of the first points of contact for victims of crime, and she serves as a “liaison” between police and victims or survivors of sexual assault looking for resources on the criminal prosecution process or to file a report with Student Conduct. She helps individuals navigate different systems to increase their feelings of safety and reduce feelings they will be further singled out for what happened to them.

“There is something wonderful and powerful about being part of the renewal of someone’s spirit,” she wrote in an email.

Gray also teaches in the classroom.

Each semester, she teaches a Self Defense for Women class, which always has a News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

inspired by cultivating positive connections whether it is with student organizations or colleagues,” she added.

2. Shondrika Merritt

Position: Interim director of University Housing and Residential Life Role in student life: Merritt is currently filling the shoes of several top leaders in University Housing and Residential LIfe. She has been serving as the interim director of the branch of Temple that houses nearly 6,000 Temple-owned and sponsored beds for the last few months, while still fulfilling her duties as an assistant director, which include overseeing student behavior, operations and Living Learning Communities.

And she doesn’t know how she’s doing it all.

“Just because staff leaves doesn’t mean that students don’t need what they need,” Merritt said. “When you’re in positions like this, you have to be student-centered to push through. A student’s transition isn’t any less important.

Student crisis isn’t going to stop. The education and engagement that we owe students who live with us on campus, that expectation does not go down.”

Merritt has been at Temple for the last seven years.

Without administrators motivating her during her years of undergraduate students at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio, Merritt said she wouldn’t be here.

“When I was a college student, all the odds were against me,” Merritt said.

“I was pretty much on the road of not being successful.”

It took the intervention of administrators to help keep her afloat.

“If it wasn’t for me getting involved and having administrators pull me in and say, ‘We’re not gonna let you fall,’

SYDNEY SCHAEFER / FILE PHOTO Associate men’s basketball coach Aaron McKie stares intently during the Owls’ 85-57 win on Jan. 28, 2018 against Connecticut at the Liacouras Center.

ALEX PATERSON-JONES / THE TEMPLE NEWS Risk Reduction & Advocacy Services Manager Donna Gray conducts a self-defense class in Pearson McGonigle Hall on Monday.

I probably would’ve failed,” she said.

“Those people have an imprint on me.”

Merritt is also responsible for rolling out a new residential curriculum to increase student success.

3. Rafael Porrata-Doria

Position: Faculty Senate president and law professor Role in student life: Porrata-Doria temple-news.com

NEWS PAGE 7

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

has been teaching at Temple for more than 30 years, but this year he stepped into a new advocacy role as president of the Faculty Senate.

The Faculty Senate is a representative body for the university’s 2,200 fulltime faculty members. Its president sits on the Board of Trustees but has no voting power for the Board’s decisions. Still, Porrata-Doria has been involved with the Faculty Senate for about 20 years, serving previously as its vice president or as the Beasley School of Law’s representative. He now oversees the more than a dozen committees in the university’s faculty governance mechanism.

“As the president of the senate, I’m working with all those pieces of the puzzle,” he said. “I can’t say I have a typical day.”

The Faculty Senate has a good relationship with Temple’s administration, Porrata-Doria said. This allows him to bring issues directly to the Office of the Provost or Office of the President. For example, when offices for international students were displaced due to construction in 1810 Liacouras Walk, several faculty members raised the issue to the Faculty Senate. This allowed Porrata-Doria and others to approach Temple’s top administration to address it and eventually get the offices moved back closer to campus, he said.

4. Valerie Dudley

Position: Director of multicultural education and training in the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, Advocacy and Leadership Role in student life: Dudley knows she won’t change people after they walk out of one of her two-hour diversity development sessions. It’s all about planting a seed of a new idea of how to think about race and diversity.

Dudley is responsible for training faculty and staff on a wide variety of diversity education programs, like workshops on microaggressions, unconscious bias or topics spurred by current events on campus or nationwide. University departments will contact Dudley to train their staffs in whatever multicultural topic they need.

And she’s been doing it for about @TheTempleNews

istrator. These big gifts include the $10 million endowment from trustee Steve Charles to build the Charles Library, set to open in Fall 2019.

The two-time alumnus and former member of Temple Student Government during his undergraduate career now focuses on bringing alumni and their family and friends back to Main Campus to increase alumni engagement and culture.

6. Aaron McKie

ALEX PATERSON-JONES / THE TEMPLE NEWS Vice President of Institutional Advancement Jim Cawley sits in Sullivan Hall on Monday.

30 years, for a broad range of environments including other Philadelphia-area schools like the Community College of Philadelphia and West Chester University. She spent her early career at Temple working within financial aid and left for several decades before returning in 2015.

Dudley now works as the middle-man to ensure faculty and staff “create welcoming and inclusive environments for our students and for each other,” she said.

“We have people stop and think about their role at Temple: what is it that you do that helps the university push diversity and inclusivity initiatives forward? How do you reach out to students in need?” she added.

Institutional diversity is more important than ever as society and Main Campus are becoming more diverse, she said.

“What I’m trying to do is get people to look at the commonalities,” she added.

“There’s usually something that brings us together. You can learn from people who are different from ourselves.”

5. Jim Cawley

Position: Vice president of institu-

tional advancement Role in student life: Although Jim Cawley’s career has taken him to the second-highest position in Pennsylvania, he has somehow always come back to Temple.

Cawley, Pennsylvania’s former lieutenant governor and a two-time Temple trustee, now serves as the vice president for Institutional Advancement. His dayto-day job — one he said is on his “list of dream jobs” — is focused on raising money through donors and grant money to expand and enhance student life and research at Temple.

Temple’s endowment has increased each year for the past several years, surpassing $500 million in 2016.

Cawley isn’t shy about asking big donors to back Temple, either.

“I know people sometimes feel awkward about asking other people for money for anything,” he said. “But if I don’t ask, then we don’t have the resources we need in order to make sure that Temple continues to be the special place that it is.

That’s enough of a motivation for me.”

Cawley has had a hand in finalizing big gifts since he left his trusteeship in 2017 and returned to work as an admin-

Position: Men’s basketball associate head coach Role in student life: Aaron McKie will soon have big shoes to fill. Next season, he’ll replace coach Fran Dunphy, a Big 5 great who has led the men’s basketball team for 13 seasons. And he’s already working every day to build an NCAA Tournament team, even when the team has days off.

“You’re always finding ways to get your guys better,” McKie said. “It’s a round-the-clock job. You’re recruiting in all these different places. You’re moving and shaking quite a bit.”

The Philadelphia native and Temple basketball alumnus comes from impressive roots in the national basketball scene. He played for nearly a decade on the Philadelphia 76ers and other NBA teams. He worked as an assistant coach for the Sixers for several years before returning to Temple as an assistant coach.

“I still scratch my head as to how I got myself into this,” McKie said. “All of these guys I know and love have the same goals that I had. The main goal for me making sure they’re ready for the real world when the basketball ends, whenever that is.”

McKie hopes to continue on Temple’s legacy of great coaches. And he’s competitive — willing to work hard on and off the court to make sure he makes the Temple and North Philadelphia communities proud. gillian@temple.edu @Gill_McGoldrick

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

COMMUNITY

TSG hits platform points as election approaches “Just [Saturday] night, I tried to It will improve Flight, create a take one, and the Flight time was like an mentor program for international hour, which I get, cause it’s a cold night,” students and promote resources Cavaliere said. “...I was waiting from on TUportal.

BY LAKOTA MATSON For The Temple News Temple Student Government is making strides toward achieving several of its goals from its 2018-19 campaign platform.

The body will work to improve the Flight shuttle system, create a mentorship program for domestic and international students in the same major and improve access to transfer student and mental health resources through TUportal. The administration has until May to complete its initiatives, but TSG elections for its successor begin in March.

TSG still has several platform points to address before elections begin. Initiatives to expand Temple Police’s patrol boundaries, install a compost facility and create scholarships for North Philadelphia youth are in the works, said Kate Lyn Broom, TSG’s deputy chief of staff.

Emanuel Wilkerson, an at-large Parliament representative, is hopeful the body will meet its goals this semester.

“We were established to be the voice of the student body,” he said. “We are accountable to the students, and we are the students’ government.”

IMPROVING FLIGHT Since it was first introduced in Spring 2016, Flight, an on-demand campus shuttle service, was almost immediately met with problems, like long wait times and a glitchy app, The Temple News reported. TSG administrations and Temple Police have been attempting to improve the service since after its introduction.

Tabbi Cavaliere, an undeclared freshman, said the Flight ride she requested took a very long time to arrive.

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2:30 [a.m.] and then it passed 3 [a.m.] too, so I don’t even know. I ended up walking home, but I feel like it wouldn’t have even come because it was past 3.”

Parliament voted on Jan. 28 to complete an exploratory campaign to shorten wait times, minimize cancellations and ensure that Flights arrive to get students home.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MENTORSHIP The Senior Leadership Team, TSG’s executive branch, is working on its platform point to strengthen its Peer-Mentorship Program. It will reinitiate a 2017 suggestion to partner international students with students from the United States.

Last semester, TSG only received only 18 applications for the program and struggled to pair students together due to their schedules, said Marvin Manalo, TSG’s deputy director of campus life and diversity at TSG’s first Spring 2019 town hall meeting last week. TSG will recruit more students to participate in the program this semester and former applicants will have to re-apply in order to be assigned a mentor or mentee.

The program had more than 70 applicants in its inaugural year in 2017-18 during ActivateTU’s administration.

The mentorship program is important because it can bridge the gap between domestic and international students, Broom said.

“International students are our constituents,” she added. “Over the years, TSG has received a lot of feedback that they’re not feeling represented.”

Wenting Ao, a junior communication studies major from China, said she was involved with TSG’s mentorship program to improve her English when

MAX SIMONS / FILE PHOTO Temple Student Government has begun making progress toward achieving goals like improving Flight, the university’s shuttle system.

she was a freshman. Ao’s mentor did not show up for their scheduled meetings, she said.

“If I were a freshman, I definitely would be interested,” Ao said. “But now, after I participated, since it was not a great experience, I probably will not participate again.”

“Before, it was not very professional,” she added.

Shunyu Li, a second-year economics graduate student said a mentorship program for international students would help them become comfortable making conversation with American students and give them opportunities to learn about the city. When Li first came to Philadelphia as a freshman, she experienced a culture shock, she said.

“But mentors could tell you some tips, how to fit in here and some good places to visit in Philadelphia,” Li said. “...For me, [what] I wanted the most

was some American-style slang. I really wanted to know more American youth, teenagers, what they use for language, what they talk about.”

STUDENT RESOURCES Parliament will also research what it would take to add a “student resources tab” to TUportal. The tab would link students to mental health and other school resources.

On Jan. 28, the body voted to send the idea back to committee to look into the feature more and revisit the idea.

Previous TSG administrations attempted to address students’ lack of access to Tuttleman Counseling Center and passed a binding resolution in 2017 to hire more counselors. lakota.matson@temple.edu Greta Anderson contributed reporting.

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OPINION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

PAGE 9

EDITORIAL

Movers & Shakers: A tribute to you Movers & Shakers is our annual issue dedicated to people who make waves in their communities.

In this year’s edition, The Temple News focused on featuring the students and faculty who make our university tick from behind the scenes. We centered our attention on the people who our readers may not already know.

We asked you to nominate your friends and colleagues — anyone who is making a difference and deserves recognition for their work.

From students who volunteer with young people in the North

Philadelphia community to others developing strategies to help those who struggle with anxiety or addiction, Temple is filled with inspiration and ideas. And it’s students who are leading the way.

The Editorial Board encourages Temple students and faculty to keep giving, dreaming and doing to contribute their strengths to the university and our surrounding community. We will continue our goal of ensuring that this important work does not go unnoticed, but instead is amplified for our community and city.

EDITORIAL

Stay strong, Burleigh family The friends and family of Jenna Burleigh have already endured the harrowing two-week long trial of Joshua Hupperterz. At the end of the grueling trial, Hupperterz was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last month.

Now, Hupperterz is challenging his conviction, his attorney David Nenner said. Nenner filed a post-sentence motion last month, which is the first step toward an appeal.

The Editorial Board commends the Burleigh family for showing great strength during Hupperterz’s trial last month, and we’re sad to see they may have to sit through more court proceedings again.

Hupperterz has a right to

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challenge his conviction, and we respect that. But we also want the Temple community to remember the Burleigh family, whose fight for justice for their daughter may not be finished.

For people who want to show their respect for Burleigh, we encourage them to donate to Jenna’s Blessings Bags Foundation, an nonprofit started by Burleigh’s parents that provides people experiencing homelessness with personal care items.

Editor’s Note: Greta Anderson, who reported on the Hupperterz appeal for this issue, did not contribute to the writing or editing of this editorial.

A LETTER TO THE EDITOR Temple University Students for Life condemns New York’s Reproductive Health Act. We, the members of Temple University Students for Life, are disturbed and upset by New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s signing of the “Reproductive Health Act.” On Jan. 22, One World Trade Center was lit up pink to celebrate the signing.

One World Trade Center was built to honor the lives lost on 9/11 and to show the world the attacks would not deter us from being the greatest nation.

Unborn babies were counted in the nearly 3,000 people who died during 9/11. Under New York’s new law, the lives of these babies would not even be considered in the statistic.

The Reproductive Health Act is dangerous for not only the pre-born but pregnant women across New York State. The law removes abortion from the state’s penal code and moves it to the state’s public health code.

It also removes protection for babies born alive during an abortion, meaning they could face death on the abortion table. And third-trimester abortions are allowed, which makes it one of the most extreme pro-choice acts in the world.

According to the bill, abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy is permissible if the health of the mother is at risk. But “health of the mother” can be stretched to mean virtually anything, thanks to the Doe v. Bolton ruling.

Most countries including those in Europe, limit abortion up to twelve weeks. New York joins China, North Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, Canada and Vietnam in allowing abortions after 20 weeks.

Abortion shows that we are failing women in society.

When women feel they have no alternative to abortion, it is the clearest sign that we must do more for them.

We, Temple University Students for Life, believe in a culture that values the pre-born and their mothers.

We advocate for resources on campus, educate students about the dangers and misconceptions of Planned Parenthood and volunteer our time to local organizations that help women in crisis.

We are also constantly communicating with the College of Education to make sure the Alpha Center will provide day care spots for Temple students.

Whether you are pro-choice or pro-life, we invite you to join us in condemning this barbaric law. We encourage you to learn more about abortion — how the procedures are done and what effects it can have on women mentally and physically.

Together we can fight for better resources for mothers on campus. And we can also fight the flow of false information.

Come to our next meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 9 p.m. in Morgan Hall room 253 or visit our website. Let us as students, professors and faculty join together to create a better society for women and their pre-born babies.

This letter was submitted on behalf of Temple University Students For Life by its president, Sean Harney. He can be reached at sean.harney@temple.edu or on their website www.tusfl.org

letters@temple-news.com

OPINION PAGE 10

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

LGBTQ

Transgender people deserve the right to fight, too President Donald Trump lash we are likely to face,” said Gared shouldn’t stop transgender Harbison, a senior criminal justice mapeople from joining the military. jor and president of Students for Trans

W

hen someone is physically able and passionate enough to enlist to serve their country in the military, nothing should stand in their way — especially not a social construct like gender.

About 1.4 million people identify as transgender in America, according to the Williams Institute, a think BRITTANY VALENTINE tank at the UniFEMINISM COLUMNIST versity of California, Los Angeles School of Law. And 8,980 transgender people are currently serving in the military, BBC reported last month.

But President Donald Trump wants the number of transgender people in our armed forces to be zero.

On Jan. 22, the Supreme Court voted to lift injunctions blocking President Donald Trump’s ban of transgender military members, making a more clear path for it to go into effect. Based on his track record and blatant anti-LGBTQ opinions of Vice President Mike Pence, it’s difficult for me to believe this decision is anything other than pure discrimination.

If a person is willing and able to serve their country in the military, they should be able to, regardless of what’s on their birth certificate and the hormones they may or may not take. Trump’s reasoning for banning the troops is that their medical treatments cost the military too much. But I see right through that.

“Trump targets marginalized groups because he needs to display his power over them, and as the trans community becomes more visible, the more back-

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Awareness and Rights. “[Trump and his administration] hate us because it’s easy to hate something you don’t understand and only hear about on TV. Until someone personally knows a trans person, the issue isn’t personal to them.”

Trump got straight to work when he first got into office by removing the LGBTQ-rights page from the White House website and repealing the federal guidelines put in place by the Obama administration that interpreted Title IX as inclusive of trans rights.

And now, an injunction in district courts in Maryland and Washington, D.C. are all that stand in the way of a ban on transgender men and women serving our country.

Trump has not kept his bigotry a secret, and the transgender community is no stranger to discriminatory rhetoric and legislation. It’s all part of a larger issue in our country.

Many states have laws that deny transgender people access to full health care benefits. Some states have laws that identify gender-affirming surgery as “cosmetic,” so insurance won’t cover costs.

James Baker, a freshman public health major and community representative of STAR, said in high school, he didn’t go to the bathroom at school.

People would stare at him in the bathroom, and Baker said he would be thinking, “I literally just have to pee.

Leave me alone.”

And prohibiting an entire group of people from joining the military is only going to promote negative attitudes toward them and make life even harder for students like Baker. It will regress the progress our country has made for the transgender community and push them further from having the rights they deserve.

ALI GRAULTY / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Society has a misguided fear that transgender people are predators or in the business of tricking people. I don’t know where people get the idea that anybody would come out to the world as transgender — changing their name and wardrobe, going through years of transitioning — simply to do something perverted or inappropriate in a bathroom.

The only agenda of the transgender community is to gain the freedom to be

themselves, to be able to safely use the bathroom that fits their gender and to have all the rights and liberties they deserve as human beings.

If the military can spend about $84 million annually on Viagra, an erectile dysfunction medication, I think they can handle health care for trans people. brittany.leigh.valentine@temple.edu @recoveryspirit

temple-news.com

OPINION PAGE 11

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MEDIA

Rushed reporting can tarnish reputations Following the Covington Catholic controversy, it’s a journalist’s duty to find the whole story.

I’m still seeing posts and memes about the students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky when I scroll through my Twitter feed weeks after they became the subject of national headlines.

A video was taken near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., of a confrontation between the students JOSHUA VICTOR attending the March TSG COLUMNIST for Life rally and protester Nathan Phillips, a member of the Omaha Nation.

In the video, the students, who vastly outnumbered Phillips, appeared to be threatening the elderly man.

The scene represented a stark juxtaposition to many, with several of the white, male students sporting Make America Great Again hats and Phillips, who served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, clad in his traditional Native garb.

Phillips received sympathy for the situation he was so-called forced to encounter. But the truth is, we hadn’t seen the big picture — only the one short video that surfaced all over the internet.

But shortly after the initial series of reactions, a new video was plastered to our screens.

A group of Black Hebrew Israelites was involved in the encounter, shouting at the Native Americans and high school students but left out of the initial media coverage. And while Phillips and those with him were still vastly outnumbered, the newly released video suggested Phillips may have approached the Covington Catholic students.

The first video made it seem like the students, particularly Nick Sandmann,

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ALI GRAULTY / THE TEMPLE NEWS

whose smug grin is in most of the images, had confronted and harassed Phillips.

“How we perceive things can be really reactionary at first before we see the full story,” said Chris Smith, a junior political science major and the president of Temple College Republicans.

Humans are undeniably reactionary.

So it is vital that national media sources like CNN and Fox News ensure haste is not a substitute for accuracy. This is especially critical because the current Presidential Administration constantly questions journalistic standards.

“There’s more news sources, so everyone’s clamoring to report on the news or make the news,” said Philip Steinberg, a political science instructor at Temple University.

In this situation, news platforms pieced together a story based on a video that in hindsight provided little context of the actual situation.

Alexandra Guisinger, a political science professor, said more traditional

news sources have been pressurized by modern media to publish stories more quickly.

“With the immediacy of the internet and competition from tweeting… that makes the newspapers respond this way,” Guisinger said. “I wish they would step back and see themselves as a different form.”

Two days after the original story broke, The New York Times posted a story with the headline, “Fuller Picture Emerges of Viral Video of Native American Man and Catholic Students.” Other outlets made similar adjustments.

President Donald Trump responded to the media firestorm on Jan. 22 by tweeting, “Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be.”

It’s important for reputable sources to maintain high standards for reporting especially because news organizations are often under attack by individuals,

including the President of the United States.

The media serves an important role in society. Journalists educate the public, hold leaders accountable and provide an avenue for social discourse.

But with great power comes great responsibility.

In the viral story, journalists failed to gather enough information before running with a narrative. This kind of carelessness tarnished the reputations of the Covington Catholic students. It lent credence to Trump’s disparaging claims on the media.

It allows him to characterize reporting as “fake news” even when it’s accurate.

I hope news organizations realize accuracy is more important than being the first to break a story, especially today because news travels fast. joshua.victor@temple.edu

letters@temple-news.com

OPINION PAGE 12

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

POLITICS

Voice unpopular opinions, challenge others

It’s important for students to agree, everyone gains a new understand- beliefs that they think might be out of “Professors should let their students voice their political opinions ing when those disagreements are aired step with the majority are pretty reluc- know that if you oppose someone else’s tant to speak up,” Hagen said. “Especially views, that’s fine.” even when classmates disagree. out in a respectful way.

As a journalism and political science major, I often find myself in classrooms full of students with strong views — political or otherwise — and professors willing to discuss touchy subjects.

In many ways, this is what college is all about: being challenged to develop ideas KARLY MATTHEWS CONSERVATIVE and belief sysCOLUMNIST tems we’ll carry with us for the rest of our lives.

But there’s a problem on Temple University’s Main Campus; students are afraid to disagree.

Instead of contributing different — perhaps opposing — ideas to a conversation, they sit in silence. While it is absolutely a student’s choice whether they want to speak up on sensitive topics or tell classmates about their party affiliation, more diversity of opinion is better for everyone in the classroom.

A Niche survey found a majority of Temple students, 53 percent of the student body, said they identify with the Democratic Party. Only 8 percent of the survey respondents identify as republican, and 20 percent were independent.

But the outnumbered voices need to be heard, too.

Sometimes, these voices simply aren’t present in the classroom, but when they are, students would be doing themselves and their peers a favor by beginning a civil discussion. Professors can make sure opposing opinions are at least acknowledged to avoid creating an usagainst-them environment in the classroom.

Even if students passionately dis-

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While diversity is increasing on college campuses, it’s lagging in two areas: ideology and socio-economic status, former Brown professor Tori Haring-Smith wrote in an Association of American Colleges and Universities journal in 2012. Haring-Smith worked to present opposing ideas in the classroom in the 1980s-90s, and even then, she found few students were willing to argue them.

Although I’m advocating for more debate on campus, I often find myself hesitant to speak up in class. Being a conservative who is involved with several right-leaning clubs on campus can be tricky. But I’ve always felt respected when I decide to voice my opinion.

The challenge is getting over the nerves of voicing an opinion at all. The idea of speaking up has always been scarier than actually doing so.

Michael Hagen, a political science professor, said oftentimes, he ends up playing devil’s advocate for a student’s opinion because a fellow student won’t chime in and do so.

“Honestly, I think people who hold

in the last couple of years, it is difficult to get people from all places on the political spectrum to speak up and speak confidently.”

Regardless of students’ personal experiences or political beliefs, they should feel comfortable contributing to discussions. No two students at the university have lived identical lives, and we come to college to expand our horizons, which is not a comfortable endeavor. But we shouldn’t encourage ideological homogeneity.

“It would be better for us all in the long run if there were more disagreement,” Hagen said. “It’s good to practice talking about things we disagree about.”

Jeff Finley is a junior political science major and the chairman of Temple’s chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative organization that promotes free-market ideas and encourages conservative students to have a presence on college campuses. Finley is a Republican who doesn’t mind speaking up in class, he said.

“We should have a more diverse ideology [on Main Campus],” Finley said.

I’m not advocating for students to scream at each other for the sake of voicing their opinions. I’m suggesting students take initiative to respectfully disagree and have healthy discussions.

Not understanding political opponents makes it easy to call them “evil” or “stupid.” Of course, this isn’t an issue that solely pertains to college campuses.

Perhaps one of the causes of being so out of practice in this regard is social media culture. We insulate ourselves by following friends and blocking foes. But our real lives shouldn’t be like this.

One purpose of going away to college is to break out of our bubbles and listen to the other side, even if it’s for no other reason than to challenge our perspectives. But this is impossible if our ideas aren’t challenged.

It only takes one student to speak up and show the rest of the class that it’s OK to disagree. While most in-classroom debates won’t end in agreement, I think most will end in understanding. karly.matthews@temple.edu @karlymatthews_

KAITLYN GROSS / THE TEMPLE NEWS

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FEATURES PAGE 13

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Student finds new ways to teach, mentor youth A student has spent her college as one of her favorite teaching moments. career helping young people The students, who are in grades 4-8, explore topics like gun violence, sexual asthrough volunteer programs.

BY MADISON KARAS Campus Beat Reporter

B

ridget Warlea was taught very early by her parents to look out for others and to always look out for her little brother.

Her parents instilled these values in her as her family immigrated from Liberia in 2000 after winning the Diversity Visa lottery to escape the civil war. This led her to raise money in high school to return to Liberia and volunteer to teach.

“I kind of took that concept with helping my little brother, or just helping anybody, with me,” said Warlea, a senior legal studies major.

Warlea brings that sense of compassion to her advocacy work helping middle and high school students in North Philadelphia learn about their constitutional rights and apply to college. She also helps represent kids in court who have been in residential placement, like correctional or treatment facilities.

Warlea graduated from Steppingstone Scholars, Inc., an education nonprofit that helps underserved students in the Philadelphia region. She started with the program in fourth grade and now gives back to current participants.

Warlea volunteered with the program throughout high school and now teaches an after-school club through Steppingstone on Mondays and Fridays at Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey Public School on Diamond Street near 15th. The program is called the Constitution Club and is funded by a grant from the National Constitution Center.

Warlea pinpointed an advocacy project where students find issues in their communities and propose solutions

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sault and the effect of school cleanliness on education.

“It was really fun and exciting to see that they’re grasping the knowledge we’re giving them, but also running with it and applying it to their own school and neighborhood community,” Warlea said.

Warlea also teaches a Saturday morning course to students in grades 6-9 at the Tuttleman Learning Center.

The course is about applying to colleges and is based on a course from Coursera, an online educational platform. Warlea helped create the course with the University of Pennsylvania Office of Admissions and Steppingstone during her freshman year.

Warlea enjoys teaching it because many of her students are the first in their families to go to college, just like herself, she said.

“I’ve learned that it’s hard to start things about college at any age because any part of your life can count,” said Briana Wilson, a sixth grader who attends Warlea’s Saturday program, which also covers the processes of applying to high school.

Wilson looks up to Warlea because she encourages her and does many things to better herself and others, she added.

“She helps us, she gives us a chance and she doesn’t sugarcoat it,” Wilson said.

Toni Graves Williamson, who has mentored Warlea since working with her as the former director of diversity and inclusion at Abington Friends School, said Warlea is an inspirational teacher because of the obstacles she has overcome.

“Because she’s determined and won’t accept ‘no’ as an answer...she’s only going to spread that kind of attitude to the

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Bridget Warlea helps students in the Steppingstone Scholars, Inc. program at Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey Public School on Diamond Street near 15th on Jan. 28.

kids she works with,” Williamson said.

In January, Warlea started as a youth justice intern at Defender Association of Philadelphia, where she helps kids who have been in residential placement reenter their communities and schools. This often requires special processes, like working with them to create individual education plans, Warlea said.

One of Warlea’s goals as an advocate and part of the Defender Association of Philadelphia is elevating the voices of the young people she works with, she said.

Jacob Kurtz, a senior community development major who met Warlea when they worked on TSG Parliament its freshman year, said Warlea will continue to advocate for others after graduating.

“She’ll always stay grounded in her core beliefs on justice, equity and equality and her beliefs on giving people voices

who are told that they don’t have any,” Kurtz said. “Those are things that can translate anywhere.”

Warlea wants to spend a few years working in the legal and nonprofit sectors of education after graduation, then attend law school so she can work on policies that will improve the educational system for young people.

“I just love helping people because I know that my experience, my dollars, can make it easier and create a better outcome for somebody else,” Warlea said. madison.karas@temple.edu @madraekaras Editor’s note: Jacob Kurtz is a freelance reporter for The Temple News. He played no role in the reporting or editing of this story.

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FEATURES PAGE 14

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Former Diamond Gems captain cheers on Patriots Vanessa Fattizzo cheered on the New England Patriots at their win against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

BY BIBIANA CORREA Trends Beat Report While the 2019 Super Bowl was notably less exciting for Philadelphians than last year’s, Sunday was the biggest night of Vanessa Fattizzo’s life.

Fattizzo, along with the squad’s 33 other members, cheered for the Patriots in their 13-3 win against the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta.

“To think that I tried out on a whim and got in, I couldn’t have lucked out any more,” said Fattizzo, a 2017 communication studies alumna.

After weeks of auditioning and traveling back and forth between Philadelphia and Foxborough, Massachusetts, Fattizzo learned she’d earned a spot on the 2018 New England Patriots’ cheerleading squad while on a train home from Boston last year.

Fattizzo dreamed of being a professional dancer since high school, and after graduating she decided to pursue a spot on a professional sports cheerleading team, she said. Fattizzo originally auditioned for the Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia 76ers to try to stay close to her family, but she wasn’t successful.

Her mother, Angela Fattizzo, said she believes Vanessa Fattizzo’s minor setback pushed her daughter to focus on her goal.

“She wanted to dance, she knew that for sure, and when she heard the ‘nos’ she didn’t let that stop her,” Angela Fattizzo said. “She just kept going and decided that the Patriots were the right fit for her.”

For Vanessa Fattizzo, the team has

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been a welcoming environment.

“The way [the captain] speaks about the team, I know it’s not about the money,” Vanessa Fattizzo said. “It’s more or less getting to do what you love and experience that with people who also love dancing and the Patriots and football.”

Vanessa Fattizzo moved to Boston two weeks after the Patriots announced her spot on the squad.

When she’s not working as a client experience associate at First Republic Bank, Vanessa Fattizzo practices with the squad at the Patriots’ indoor facilities and Gillette Stadium, the Patriots’ field in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The cheerleaders’ trainer, Andy Berler, leads the squad through hour-long, high-intensity interval training, bodyweight and cardio workouts twice per week. The cheerleaders also attend twohour dance classes and are expected to work out on their own, she said.

“Cheerleaders work very hard, and not to pat myself on the back, but our program is very tough,” she added. “The amount of pushups I’ve had to do is unreal.”

Throughout the year, Vanessa Fattizzo has developed close relationships with her teammates.

“Whereas some girls use this as exposure and as networking, as great as this is, it’s my sisterhood,” she said. “For me, it’s like having that bond that I had in college, but on a different level, where all these women are so beautiful and talented and amazing people inside and out.”

While at Temple University, Vanessa Fattizzo was a member of the Diamond Gems, the university’s dance team, and served as co-captain her senior year alongside 2017 kinesiology alumna Dominique Mazzone.

The two choreographed the Dia-

COURTESY / NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS Vanessa Fattizzo, a 2017 communication studies alumna and former co-captain of Temple’s Diamond Gems, cheered on the New England Patriots at the 2019 Super Bowl.

mond Gems’s routines for the squad’s halftime performances at Lincoln Financial Field, the Liacouras Center and pep rallies on Main Campus.

Mazzone noticed Vanessa Fattizzo’s strong work ethic and determination the moment she joined the team, she said.

“A lot of people don’t find that balance,” Mazzone said. “They either love to dance or love to be on the team, and she did both. Her work ethic was awesome because she loved to help the team in any way, even as an underclassman.”

During her three years with the Diamond Gems, Vanessa Fattizzo improved her ability to perform in front of large crowds, interact with fans and speak publically, Fattizzo said.

Mazzone is excited and proud of Va-

nessa Fattizzo’s achievements and often believes that Vanessa Fattizzo doesn’t give herself enough credit.

“It’s hard to pick up and move your life for something that you’re so passionate about,” Mazzone said. “I know she is continuing a dream, and it’s such a cool thing to see as a friend for her to be pursuing and succeeding at.”

Despite the hard work, prepping for the Super Bowl was worth it.

“The Patriots were a team I never thought I would be a part of, and now I couldn’t imagine being on any other team,” Vanessa Fattizzo said. bibiana.correa@temple.edu

temple-news.com

FEATURES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

PAGE 15

LIVE IN PHILLY

Pop-up art show celebrates Black History Month To kick off Black History Month, event organizers Nominal Artists hosted the Obsidian Art Show to showcase the work of up-and-coming Black artists and musicians on First Friday. The gallery took place at Trolley Shop, a pop-up exhibit on Girard Avenue near 28th Street that is curated by the Fairmount Community Development Corporation.

Jazz and rap music filled the venue as attendees networked with like-minded creatives while supporting artwork and live music performances by local Black artists.

Maya Simone, a musician and senior Africology and African American studies major, said the show was “a safe place to express [artists] feelings and emotions.”

“It is very important for Black creatives to explore and have a safe place to network,” said Amira Barnes, a sophomore visual studies major. @TheTempleNews

KEENAN AUSTIN / THE TEMPLE NEWS features@temple-news.com

FEATURES PAGE 16

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Student’s handheld device stops anxiety attacks A student created CALM, which can stop anxiety attacks within 60 seconds.

BY CARLEE CUNNINGHAM For The Temple News A racing heart, sweating palms, dizziness, fuzzy vision — you’re having an anxiety attack.

Growing up, Daniel Couser witnessed how debilitating anxiety can be by watching his childhood friend battle it.

“I got to see how difficult anxiety disorders can be and how debilitating they can really be,” Couser said. “No matter where you go, when you’re having intense stress, anxiety attacks, it can follow you from the comfort of your home to work, school, social life, it doesn’t matter.”

Couser, a senior entrepreneurship and innovation management major, is the CEO and founder of Kovarvic LLC, a medical technology company that designs tools to manage cognitive disorders like anxiety. The company created CALM, a golf-ball-sized handheld device that relieves anxiety attacks with vibrations.

CALM, which Couser calls “a reset button for the brain,” fits in the palm of a user’s hand and has a ring that fits around the middle finger.

At the start of a panic attack or in times of high stress, a user turns on CALM and it releases pulse vibrations.

By situating the device behind the ear near the base of the neck, the vibrations can help reduce anxiety by acting like an anxiety-reducing drug within a minute.

During anxiety attacks, the body goes into fight-or-flight, a physiological state humans once needed to either fight predators or escape to safety. Today, anxiety attacks can kick in during everyday situations, like exams or public speaking engagements.

“I realized there wasn’t really a tool

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COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Senior entrepreneurship and innovation management major Daniel Couser used services at Blackstone LaunchPad at Temple University to create CALM, a handheld device that helps reduce anxiety.

that utilized an efficient way to help individuals de-escalate this rising stress response in the moment,” Couser said. “All treatment options, the majority of it was around de-escalation not in the moment, but more of a preemptive try to mitigate anxiety as a whole.”

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States and affect about 40 million adults every year, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Nathalie Dragwa, a senior psychology major who struggles with anxiety, said she used to take medication, but stopped because she felt it subdued her personality.

Dragwa works out almost every day to help minimize her anxiety but said there are times when she’s in class that she’d use CALM. “I haven’t found anything that helps me calm down in a minute,” Dragwa said. “If I have anxiety in class, I can’t just get up and go to the gym.”

Couser came up with CALM, which is still in prototype stages, after seeing

research indicating pulse vibrations, electrotherapy or light can stimulate the brain to thwart fight-or-flight. Using the Blackstone LaunchPad at Temple, an organization that helps students get their inventions and companies off the ground, Couser brought CALM to life.

Julie Stapleton Carroll, the Blackstone LaunchPad program director, said Couser stood out because of his dedication to his idea and willingness to accept criticism.

In 2018, Couser’s CALM pitch won the undergraduate track of the Be Your Own Boss Bowl, an annual business-plan competition hosted in the Fox School of Business.

“He was in here almost every day practicing over and over and over again,” Stapleton Carroll said.

In 2017, CALM also won the undergraduate track of the Innovative Idea Competition, another university-run entrepreneurship competition. Kovarvic LLC launched in July 2017 and began working on CALM about 18 months ago.

Recently, Couser landed the opportunity to participate in the 2019 LaunchPad Lift Cohort of the competitive accelerator program Blackstone LaunchPad Powered by Techstars. Couser will work remotely with a mentor via video calls throughout the 10-week program on CALM. Couser hopes CALM will soon be distributed to private practice clinics, where a small number of users will try it during beta testing. CALM’s effectiveness and feedback on its comfort, convenience and design will be recorded.

Couser’s ultimate goal is to get CALM on the market for the general public.

“It’s a passion project and definitely something that I see bringing a lot of help to a tremendous amount of people,” Couser said. “There’s a lot of reasons why I’m in this, and I’m very fortunate and happy to continue to step forward in this path.” carlee.cunningham@temple.edu @carleeinthelab

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FEATURES PAGE 17

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Singer promotes individuality through music, style Jade Yates, whose stage name is versity from Lincoln University in Fall Zhariah, released her first single 2018.

“It was my first time performing at last August.

BY JOSEPH WOJTKOWSKI Arts Beat Reporter From performing at a crowded Student Center to taking the stage at a soldout Fillmore near Washington, D.C., Zhariah hopes to be the idol she wished she had growing up.

“I just wanted an artist who looked like me,” Zhariah said. “Being alternative and Black is really hard.”

Jade Yates, who uses her middle name Zhariah as her stage name, is a junior media studies and production major beginning a career as a singer-songwriter.

Zhariah released her debut single, “Yass Siss” last August and performed at the Mic Drop talent show hosted by “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Shangela at the Student Center last November.

Zhariah transferred to Temple Uni-

Temple,” Zhariah said. “Part of me knew the crowd will be more accepting, but I didn’t expect them to be in the crowd singing along.”

In addition to her success on Main Campus, Zhariah opened for rapper CupcakKe’s show in December at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland, a venue the Washington, D.C. native used to attend regularly.

Aliyah Kimmey, a freshman journalism major, attended Zhariah’s performance at the Student Center and was intrigued by her unusual sound. Zhariah incorporates a variety of different styles in her music, including rock, pop and hip-hop.

“When she was performing, she brought something to the crowd that uplifted them,” Kimmey said. “I like how she’s mixing punk and hip-hop. It makes her unique, and I appreciate that.”

As her music career begins to take off, Zhariah plans to release an EP titled

“House of Zhariah” and hopes to collaborate with other female rappers like Rico Nasty.

On top of not conforming to traditional music genres, Zhariah curated her own “weird glam” fashion sense through a mixture of gothic and alternative styles with lots of glitter.

“It’s everything that’s different and all types of weird but glamorous, every person or group of people that have been shunned, seen as weird or a freak,” Zhariah said. “The ability to be yourself is glamorous, and that’s what my music is.”

Zhariah said Lady Gaga’s 2009 MTV Video Music Awards performance of “Paparazzi” inspired her to become a musician and creative director. Her other influences are Kurt Cobain and Tyler, The Creator, who motivated her to create her own style of music, think creatively and be herself, Zhariah said.

“When I see my dreams, I think, ‘What would 15-year-old Zhariah want?

What would she want her idol to say or do at this time?’” Zhariah said. “I’m being the person I wish I had. It makes me

EMMA EWING Freshman dance major

VOICES

How do you give back to your community?

@TheTempleNews

I like doing Big Brothers Big Sisters. I’m getting involved in that right now and I’m really excited about it. And hoping to volunteer as an EMT soon.

I’m going through training right now.

proud thinking about how far I’ve come.”

Stephanie Dalce, a 2015 English alumna, discovered Zhariah during one of her performances at Creep Records on Hancock Street near Germantown Avenue in Northern Liberties and became the artist’s manager in December.

Zhariah’s performance was “like a firestorm” and unlike anything she’d seen before, Dalce said.

“It made me empowered in a space I hadn’t recognized before,” Dalce added.

“She is very versatile, and her aesthetic varies like you would not believe. Sometimes goth, sometimes beauty queen, always super cute.”

Zhariah hopes her fans feel similarly empowered by her music.

“I want you to be badder and better than the person you were before society told you to grow up or called you weird,” she said. “I want listeners to feel joyous and free, free enough that you can stand on a table and stand up to people who are intimidating you.” joseph.wojtkowski@temple.edu

STEPHEN BAAK Freshman biochemistry major I always try to help people in college with homework.

BRIYANA JOHNSON Junior management and information systems major

DARIO ST. FLEUR Freshman media studies and production major

Right now, I’m working at a U.S. agency and we try to work with nonprofits in the community to help them better fit their consumers.

When I lived in New York, I volunteered to be an urban ambassador for young men of color. ...

Whatever I learn here, I make sure to go back and tell them.

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FEATURES PAGE 18

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CROSSWORD

CHINESE NEW YEAR WORD SEARCH

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2. W.E.B. Du Bois book on the role of Black Americans in post-Civil War society

1. Poet and leader in Harlem Renaissance movement

6. The movement of more than 6 million Black Americans from the South to the North, Midwest and West during the 20th century

3. African-American historian who developed a precursor to Negro History Week in 1926

S M A

LUNAR REUNION FIREWORKS RED ENVELOPE SHOU SUI LITTLE YEAR

E

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K

SPRING FESTIVAL LANTERN FESTIVAL YEAR OF THE PIG HOUSE CLEANING PARADE

2

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4 6

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10. First European nation to recognize Black History Month in 1987 11. Black United Students at this university first observed Black History Month in 1970 12. 1977 television miniseries based on Alex Haley’s novel

4. 19th-century activist and author who escaped slavery 5. Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature and author of “Beloved” 7. Advocate for Black nationalism in 1920s New York City 8. Winner of a record 23 Grand Slam singles titles 9. Jazz singer who popularized “Strange Fruit,” a protest song

Answers from Tuesday, January 29: 1.Philly Special, 2. Vince Lombardi, 3. Apple, 4. Eagles, 5. Pro Bowl, 6. Packers, 7. Tom Brady, 8.

Steelers, 9. Halftime, 10. Superdome, 11. Sean McVay, 12. Patriots

features@temple-news.com

temple-news.com

INTERSECTION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

PAGE 19

THE ESSAYIST

The makers of modern America are still suffering A member of the Black Student ladder, is, in fact, psychological slavery.

We have been educated by family, Union’s executive board writes modern-day racism and injustice. associates, enemies, institutions, the meBY SPENCER HAMILTON For The Temple News In 1926, Carter G. Woodson, a Black historian, created Negro History Week. It was expanded to Black History Month in 1976, formally recognized and celebrated in February annually from thereon. Woodson believed “the achievements of the Negro properly set forth will crown him as a factor in early human progress and a maker of modern civilization.”

But the unfortunate truth is that Black people, the makers of modern society, still face racism and injustice in America. Many things disguised as “changes” for Black Americans have merely been modified to function within a contemporary zeitgeist.

Colorblindness is an excuse used to disregard the hardships of Black people because it is uncomfortable for those who are privileged. It is the concept of ignoring race and racial differences in interactions, which invalidates the prejudice and discrimination that targets Blacks.

This is inherently racist. While overt expressions of racism might be condemned by the mainstream media, Black people face overt racism and microaggressions on a daily basis. A wicked truth of our society today is that mass incarceration has merely adapted the old systems — slavery and Jim Crow.

Through these experiences, the system pervades with understated malevolence because it functions within a morally corrupt framework established at the beginning of our enslavement. The most important component, to keep us bound to the lowest rungs of the socioeconomic

@TheTempleNews

dia and many other vehicles that propagate whiteness and tell us that we do not belong, no matter what we do.

Temple University, a bastion of education in a poor, Black community subject to gentrification, serves as a reminder to community residents of what cannot be attained. We internalize what society tells us — that we are both limited and will not amount to anything. This is slavery, the bondage of hopelessness and self-defeat.

In Woodson’s “The Mis-Education of the Negro,” he rightfully suggests that “real education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better.” This is the antithesis of the Black experience in relation to Whiteness. In post-civil rights America, we have been especially susceptible to a system that only teaches us conformity, subservience and self-worthlessness.

We cannot truly savor the freedom that white society basks in at our expense because the system works two-fold: to fuck our minds and make us internalize the ramifications of the mind-fucking.

Wretchedness defines the past, present and future of the Black race as long as we are kept in psychological bondage.

We look everywhere externally for answers to our miserable condition, but introspection is a viable first step to true progress.

In his book “The Fire Next Time,” James Baldwin, a Black novelist, assures his nephew that “what [white people] believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity and fear.” As much as wretchedness is etched into our history, so is resilience. It is a superpower, strengthened by every vil-

EMMA STEVENS / THE TEMPLE NEWS

lainous transgression we face. And the day that we start to deconstruct the mental scaffolding, perpetually in place to build images of white superiority, is the day the light of a brighter future shines upon us.

Oppression takes place in the mind first. Woodson exudes that “when you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do

not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his ‘proper place’ and will stay in it.” Our duty to our race, to our ancestors and our progeny, to ourselves, is to destroy the programming. Only then will the foundation of almighty whiteness crumble in favor of the communion of humanity. spencer.hamilton@temple.edu

intersection@temple-news.com

INTERSECTION PAGE 20

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Black women set the bar high in the workplace “It’s all about being real, raw, and reBlack women discuss their latable,” Thompson added. successes as entrepreneurs and India Green, a junior media studies why they want to give back.

BY ALESIA BANI For The Temple News Black women are making extensive strides as entrepreneurs.

In 2018, there were 2.4 million African-American women-owned businesses in the United States, according to The 2018 State of Women-Owned Business Report.

Black women entrepreneurs are also succeeding as college students. At Temple University, Black women are making money off their passions while working towards their degree.

Many Black women have difficulty accessing credit and face capital constraints, according to the Federal Reserve. That makes it hard to get the necessary funding to grow. Still, Black women are the only racial or ethnic group with more business ownership than their male peers, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

“Black women all over the world have a strong backbone,” said Aziah Thompson, a senior public relations and strategic communication major. “We don’t take no for an answer. ‘No’ just means ‘not right now.’”

Thompson is also an entrepreneur.

She is the founder of Thompson’s Topic PR, through which she has worked as the media representative with Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins and Boom 103.9, a hip-hop and R&B station.

In the future, she plans to run her own public relations firm, while still being the head publicist.

Thompson’s love for PR comes from her passion to connect with people and help inspire other business owners to do what they love. In the PR industry, she needs to have a strong backbone, she said.

intersection@temple-news.com

and production major, developed the foundation of Urban Glow Cosmetics as a freshman through a class project and grew it to a business. Green’s interest in natural skin care began with trying to tame blemishes on her own face.

Green originally launched her website with two facial masks and has since added three new products: face wash, moisturizing oil and toner. Ultimately, Green wants to use her business to host conferences and retreats to empower women and promote self-care.

“We are taught to put someone before us,” Green said. “People don’t really put themselves first. …I don’t think being selfish means that you have to neglect yourself.”

Vanessa Chandler, a senior tourism and hospitality management major, started the brand Vanessa Gabrielle Makeup Artistry last month. Chandler found her love for makeup in high school and has since become a Philly-based makeup artist specializing in makeup for Black women.

“I market myself as that and branded myself as that because a lot of times women with darker skin tones are neglected,” Chandler said. “There aren’t products that cater to our skin needs. ...I wanted to be the solution to that issue.”

Beyond makeup, Chandler hopes to build a reputation as an event planner and public speaker. Like Green, she intends to curate events for networking, empowerment and education for Black women.

“Being a Black woman is completely centered to who I am and every entrepreneurial adventure I embark on,” Chandler said. “I’m extremely inspired

by Black women, and I surround myself with other Black women who are entrepreneurs.”

The 2018 State of Women-Owned

LUKE SMITH / THE TEMPLE NEWS India Green, a junior media studies and production major, packages skincare products in her room at Beech International Village on Friday.

Business Report” commissioned by American Express, the number of women-owned businesses grew 58 percent from 2007-18. The number of firms owned by Black women grew nearly three times that rate.

Black women all over the world have a strong backbone. We don’t take no for an answer.

AZIAH THOMPSON

Dejah Davis, a senior communications major, is the CEO and founder of Too Much Cupcakes, an online bake shop. Davis began her love of baking her junior year of high school, selling cupcakes every week in order to give out five awards of $250 each to students in her graduating class. The shop began as a pledge drive to award books to her grad-

uating class.

After graduating from Temple, Daviss’ ultimate plan is to start an award for young entrepreneurs who don’t otherwise have the funding, resources or guidance to do what they want, she said.

She plans to pursue a career in graphic design in order to fund her businesses.

“I want to provide a platform for entrepreneurs looking for more connection so we have this community of people going after excellence,” Davis said.

Her identity as a Black woman goes hand in hand with being a small business owner, but she is proud to be a small business activist Davis said.

“I don’t take no for an answer,” Davis added. “I go after whatever it is I want.

There’s no time for me to stop.” alesiabani1@temple.edu

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INTERSECTION PAGE 21

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

THE ESSAYIST

‘Learning to care for my natural curls’

A student explores her everchanging relationship with her natural hair.

BY YASMINE HAMOU For The Temple News

I was probably in sixth grade when I became cognizant of the cultural and political history behind my curls — perhaps when my mother explained “tender-headedness” to me or when I watched Chris Rock’s iconic documentary, “Good Hair” in 2009.

The exact moment is difficult to pinpoint. But suddenly, my braids, which I once saw as a daily hairstyle, became indicative of my Blackness. In a predominately white middle school, I was unsure if this was something I wanted.

In my middle school class, I was one

of 10 Black girls. I couldn’t understand why my hair didn’t swing from side to side in a silk ponytail when I ran during gym class, why I couldn’t jump into a pool without my hair drying in strange directions or why the Black girls with looser curls were told they were “beautiful,” while my hair was looked down upon by my peers.

Being Black was one thing. But to be a Black teenage girl, entering womanhood in an environment that praised assimilation more than the styles of the Black women who came before me.

But I’ve learned that hair is a complex aspect of my physical identity as a Black woman. Hair defines Black women’s individuality, our look and our secrets that we share, shielded from the white world.

We can change it on a whim, too, going from wavy Yaki weaves to Janet Jackson’s “Poetic Justice” braids overnight if that’s what we want. Our hair is a symbol of expression and the freedom that we don’t get from world.

Our autonomy over our hairstyles serves as a revolution against European standards of beauty and oppression faced

by Black women throughout history.

When Beyoncé rocked cornrows and sang about her daughter’s baby hairs and Afros in a music video set in New Orleans, a historic hub for Black-Creole culture, we are reminded of our ancestors’ struggles. We find pride in their strength.

Conversely, when Kim Kardashian West appropriated cornrows for her Instagram story, we were instilled with

feelings of hostility. We remember that white people once plundered and continue to strip our culture of its most basic ingredients. Our hair, a source of autonomy, is hijacked.

Throughout middle school and high school, I had braids, weaves, wigs and perms, and I am still learning to care for my natural curls. Now, however, I choose hairstyles based on how I want to perceive myself, not how I think others will perceive me. What began as an attempt to assimilate with my peers became a journey of appreciation for each root and curl resting on my head. My hair was, and is, a safe place for me to discover myself and the woman I want to be while remembering the women who came before me. yasmine.hamou@temple.edu

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Blockson Collection: ‘Black history 365 days a year’

The Blockson Collection is a resource to explore the history of the African-American experience.

BY LAUREN REMY For The Temple News

African-American history and American history are inseparable.

Temple University’s Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection tells these entangled stories of the Black experience in the United States through more than 500,000 African and African-American objects, documents and other resources.

August will mark the 400th anniversary of African captives from a Portuguese slave ship arriving to Jamestown in colonial Virginia in 1619. The collection features several items from this time period to tell this often overlooked story.

“The history of struggle and everything African-Americans had to go through…speaks to the spirit of resilience,” said Diane Turner, the Blockson Collection’s curator. “It also speaks to a spirit of unity and cooperation and love and faith.” @TheTempleNews

Despite the centuries-long presence of African and African American influence on the nation’s history, the narrative often gets left out of history courses outside of slavery, the Civil War and the civil rights movement. Likewise, while media representations of Black identity can be sparse or even harmful, one of the roles of the Blockson Collection is to correct the narrative, Turner said.

“In the era of fake news and social media, people have an opportunity to come in and do research and find out info that’s factual,” Turner said. “Here you can find out things that are neglected by mainstream media.”

The Blockson Collection is free and open to the public in Sullivan Hall.

Aaron X. Smith, an Africology and African-American Studies professor, said the Blockson Collection provides important education about not just African-American history, but American history and world history.

“History is like a compass and a clock telling people where they should go,” Smith said. “If you don’t understand the contributions of Africans, then you are

just ignorant to history and reality and the contributions that made America what it is.”

Tarik Richardson, an Africology and African American Studies master’s student, called the Blockson Collection “a place of understanding.”

“It’s hard to respect someone if you don’t understand them,” Richardson said.

People can start to understand Black history by viewing the pieces in the collection and educating themselves on teachings by African-American scholars, Richardson added.

Maulana Karenga, the Africana studies department chair at California State University Long Beach, is a scholar who discusses multicultural education and learning about different cultures to help individuals become better citizens, Richardson added.

Karenga’s work, including the “Handbook of Black Studies,” which he co-edited with Temple’s Africology and African American Studies department chair Molefi Kete Asante, is available at the Blockson Collection.

“If this collection didn’t exist, where would people go to find information about our ancestors or communities?”

Richardson said. “Where would people turn to get the documents of different African-Americans that lived in Philadelphia?”

“The value that it has is really intrinsic to providing knowledge to fight against miseducation,” he added.

Going forward, the Blockson Collection will add to its music collection, placing an emphasis on hip-hop materials. In Fall 2018, the collection added items like handwritten lyrics from late rapper Tupac Shakur.

“The roots [of hip hop] come out of Philadelphia,” Turner said. “Philly has beyond jazz, a very rich music history.”

While conversations about Black history tend to surface in February in conjunction with Black History Month, the resilience of Black Americans should be celebrated all of the time, she added.

“We do Black history 365 days a year,” Turner said. laremy@temple.edu

intersection@temple-news.com

SPORTS PAGE 22

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019 ADVERTISEMENT

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Junior’s energy brings her success off the strip Malia Hee’s attention to detail helps her excel at fencing and graphic design.

BY MICHAEL ZINGRONE Co-Sports Editor Malia Hee’s work ethic has led her to be both successful in fencing and in her future advertising career.

The junior fencer helped a company in Paris win a startup award in Summer 2018, received academic honors and is 10 wins away from becoming Temple University’s winningest sabre.

As an advertising major, Hee spends more than 40 hours per week balancing schoolwork and fencing on the Owls’ sabre squad. Hee won the Elite 90 award at the NCAA championships last season for owning a 4.0 GPA, the highest of any competitor at the event.

Her hard work has taken her overseas, too. During the summer, Hee spent three months as a graphic design intern in Paris with bMotion, a music therapy program for young adults and kids with learning disabilities. She helped design a pitch deck to introduce a “Musical Interactions and Learning Activities,” therapy program which won the Jean-Louis Gerondeu Award – Zodiac Aerospace that is given to students, recent graduates or doctoral students who have a viable business creation project.

With 165 wins after going 17-4 in Saturday and Sunday’s Northwestern Duals, Hee is on pace to break Kamali Thompson’s record of 175 sabre wins.

Hee won 15 bouts on her way to finishing first at the Penn State Garret Open on Nov. 3 this season.

To be successful on and off the fencing strip, consistency is key, Hee said.

Hee’s most consistent attribute is her energy, coach Nikki Franke said. Whethsports@temple-news.com

er Hee is dancing with her teammates before practice, competing at a meet or doing schoolwork, she aims to give full effort.

Hee is “the epitome of a Temple student-athlete,” Franke added.

“Every day, Malia has energy in every endeavor,” Franke said. “Her squad can feed off of that energy, and she feeds off her teammates’ energy. It’s always a great dynamic when she is around.”

Hee’s goal is to work in the sports advertising industry. The Vancouver, Washington, native’s dream job is to work at Nike, which is headquartered in the Pacific Northwest. As she works toward that goal, Hee applied to be a creative design and product development intern for Under Armour in Baltimore this summer, she said.

Hee has had an eye for art since middle school, she said. Doing photography as a hobby helps her keep it, she added.

As a detail-oriented process, graphic design teaches Hee patience and awareness of small details.

“You have to spend a lot of time refining your projects, spending a lot of time getting feedback from your peers and professors,” Hee said.

She applies that attention to detail to everything she does, including fencing.

Winning the Elite 90 award was an honor, Hee said. She dreams of winning it again at this season’s NCAA Championships but wants to accompany it with a result better than her 13th-place finish last year.

“I have put in a lot of hard work throughout these two and half years and I just want to keep that consistency,” Hee said. michael.zingrone@temple.edu @mjzingrone

temple-news.com

SPORTS PAGE 23

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

CLUB ICE HOCKEY

Co-captains ‘shape’ playoff-caliber club team With the help of juniors Ryan Trefz and Charles Ghiazza, Temple has won three of its past four games, including two overtime victories.

BY ADAM SLOATE For The Temple News Club ice hockey’s two junior co-captains, Ryan Trefz and Charles Ghiazza, have guided the Owls through a rough start to the season to the cusp of a playoff spot.

Temple has won three of its past four games, including two overtime victories.

This record shows how far they’ve come since the Owls faced significant adversity earlier this season. Several players were injured at the beginning of the season, including junior starting goaltender Ben Auerbach from Oct. 5 to Nov. 17, 2018, and the team dropped 13 straight games. The stretch included two games each against Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association leaders Drexel and West Chester University.

Trefz mostly captains the defensemen, while Ghiazza captains the forwards.

The two are Risk Management and Insurance majors and have known each other since they tried out for the club team in 2016. Since then, they have both become officers of the club with Ghiazza as the president and Trefz as the vice president.

“It’s a good dynamic because we’re good friends,” Trefz said. “At first, some guys were surprised, but it has fit with our team because Charles and I work well together.”

Even though Ghiazza and Trefz focus on different parts of the team, they do not find it hard to lead the team as a whole. Ghiazza has the knowledge and wherewithal to lead the team in Trefz’s absence, like on Saturday, because he’s played defense in the past.

“A lot of teams would have given up, and kids would have been quitting if they had lost this many games,” Trefz said. “I’m proud of our team for sticking @TTN_Sports @TheTempleNews

JUSTIN OAKES / THE TEMPLE NEWS Junior forward and co-captain Charles Ghiazza prepares to shoot during Temple’s 3-2 overtime win against Navy on Friday at The Rink on Old York Road in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

together during this time.”

Despite the rough start, the Owls have been able to rebound and play their way into playoff position.

The main focus for the captains during that stretch was emphasizing that as a team we could be better and needed to be in order to win,” Auerbach said.

“Just because things weren’t going our way didn’t mean we would turn on each other and lose sight of why we play to begin with.”

From Jan. 26 to Feb. 1, they reeled off three consecutive victories. Trefz and Ghiazza each had three points in the first win of the streak, a 6-3 victory against Penn State Berks. In the last game of the streak, Ghiazza scored one minute, 28 seconds into overtime in the Owls’ 3-2 win against Navy.

“We always knew we had the potential to succeed and make the playoffs,” Ghiazza said. “We tried to keep a posi-

tive attitude and help our team stay positive during that time. But now we have been able to realize that potential.”

During Temple’s three-game winning streak, Ghiazza recorded three goals and one assist. In the past five games, he has eight points on six goals and two assists.

But for both players, captaincy extends even further than leading the team or playing on the ice. When the team was moving to its current home at the Rink on Old York Road in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, the captains spent their summers renovating the locker room themselves and transporting the team’s equipment to the rink.

“We don’t have an executive board like other teams do,” Trefz said. “We have student officers in every position so that we can influence every area of the program. This has allowed us to shape it into what we want.”

They hope being able to shape the program will lead to success in the playoffs this season, where they would likely face either Drexel or West Chester.

Temple will play Villanova on Friday at Hatfield Ice Arena in Radnor, Pennsylvania. While a win doesn’t automatically qualify the Owls for the playoffs, it does increase their chances.

“We know each game is going to be a battle, and we’re going to put forward our effort against their best effort,” Ghiazza said. “The last time we played them, a few of our players were out.

Now, we’re healthy and ready to give it all we’ve got.” adam.sloate@temple.edu @MrAdster99 Editor’s Note: Co-Sports Editor Michael Zingrone is a broadcaster for the club ice hockey team. He played no part in the reporting or editing of this story.

sports@temple-news.com

SPORTS PAGE 24

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Blown leads could halt Owls’ tournament hopes ence tournament. The Owls also hope Temple is on the fringe of the in Lunardi’s latest projection. The Owls man II said following the game. dropped another opportunity to build Following Cincinnati’s win against to enter the conference tournament in a NCAA Tournament after a 2-3 their resume on Thursday in a 73-66 Temple, Bearcats’ coach Mick Cronin strong position this year. record in its past five games.

BY SAM NEUMANN Co-Sports Editor With nine regular-season games left, Temple University is on the fringe of the NCAA Tournament picture.

The Owls (16-6, 6-3 American Athletic Conference) aren’t in ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s latest projected field from Friday, sitting as one of the first four teams to miss the cut.

But they’re a No. 11 seed in CBS’ Sunday projection after beating Tulane 75-67 on Saturday in New Orleans.

After the NCAA selects its 68 team field, they will then pick four teams who were on the bubble of the tournament as its first four out. The lack of resume-building wins and three losses in the past five games may result in Temple missing the tournament in coach Fran Dunphy’s final season.

Temple earned a quality conference win when it beat nationally ranked Houston on Jan. 9 at the Liacouras Center. But the Owls missed other opportunities for strong wins in their 78-73 loss to Central Florida on Jan. 2 and in their 72-68 loss to Cincinnati on Jan. 27.

Temple is currently fourth in The American behind Houston, Cincinnati and Central Florida. All of Temple’s remaining games are against conference opponents, but only one — their March 9 matchup against UCF — is against a team above it in the standings.

UCF is third in the conference while Cincinnati is tied for first, and both teams will make the tournament

sports@temple-news.com

road loss to nationally ranked Houston, which is tied for first in The American.

To make the tournament, Temple had to win close games and beat teams it is supposed to beat, senior guard Shizz Alston Jr. said in September.

The Owls followed Alston’s formula having 14-3 overall record and 8-2 mark in games decided by seven or fewer points before it fell to Penn 77-70 on Jan. 19. Before the loss, Temple was a tournament team, Lunardi predicted.

Using the NCAA Evaluation Tool — a new standard that replaced Ratings Percentage Index as the main evaluation tool for tournament selection in July 2018 — Temple’s loss to Penn hurt the Owls’ resume. The Quakers lost to then-winless Monmouth University and dropped back-to-back games to Princeton University, which is ranked 157th in NET, before defeating the Owls.

Temple can still make a march to the tournament with its No. 54 NET ranking, but going 2-3 and failing to win a game decided by seven or fewer points since its loss to Penn could hurt them.

Alston believed the Owls blew an opportunity to have an important win against Cincinnati and in their 10-point loss to nationally ranked Villanova on Dec. 5, 2018. The Owls led Villanova by four points in the second half before the Wildcats went on a 12-0 run.

Against Cincinnati, Temple led by 10 at halftime before second-half adjustments helped Cincinnati defeat the Owls.

“We weren’t tough enough, simple as that,” sophomore forward J.P. Moor-

called his team’s road win “tremendous” because he believes Temple is a tournament-caliber team.

Temple is 2-5 against current tournament teams according to CBS’ projection. A win against a ranked opponent and a few fringe tournament teams might not be enough to get the Owls into the tournament for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

During that season, Temple won The American’s regular-season title and earned a No. 1 seed in the confer-

“Winning a national title is the ultimate goal, but you have to take baby steps within that,” associate head coach Aaron McKie said before the season in October. “Our first baby step will be to win our conference, and anytime you win your conference you position yourself well for the NCAA Tournament.” sam.neumann@temple.edu @SamNeu_

JUSTIN OAKES / FILE PHOTO Coach Fran Dunphy covers his face on the sideline during Temple’s 72-68 loss to Cincinnati on Jan. 27 at the Liacouras Center.

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