THE TEMPLE NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019

PAGE 1

OPENING NEW DOORS After four years of construction, the Charles Library is open to the public. Read more on Page 4.

VOL 98 // ISSUE 1 AUGUST 27, 2019 temple-news.com @thetemplenews

NEWS, PAGE 2 Temple University Japan will begin classes at a new campus.

@TheTempleNews

OPINION , PAGE 9 A student supports a bill that would ban plastic bags in the city.

FEATURES, PAGE 16 A denistry school professor achieved his mountain-climbing goal.

SPORTS, PAGE 24 Temple football prepares for their season opener on Saturday.

NEWS PAGE 2

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

THE TEMPLE NEWS A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921. Kelly Brennan Editor in Chief Pavlína Černá Managing Editor Francesca Furey Chief Copy Editor Colin Evans News Editor Hal Conte Assistant News Editor Gabrielle Houck Assistant News Editor Tyler Perez Opinion Editor Madison Karas Features Editor Bibiana Correa Assistant Features Editor Ayooluwa Ariyo Assistant Features Editor Jay Neemeyer Sports Editor Dante Collinelli Assistant Sports Editor Alex McGinley Assistant Sports Editor Alesia Bani Intersection Co-Editor Gionna Kinchen Intersection Co-Editor

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

CAMPUS

TUJ moves campuses

The international branch moved to the Showa Women’s University campus earlier this month. BY GABRIELLE HOUCK Assistant News Editor

Compared to the last campus, it’s like day and night, said Bruce Stronach, dean of Temple University Japan. TUJ and its 210 faculty members will begin classes at their new locaAdjacent commentary is reflective tion on Showa Women’s University of their authors, not The Temple campus in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo on News. Sept. 2 after moving from their former campus in Minato-Ku, Tokyo. Visit us online at Michael Moscarelli Dir. of Engagement The school’s old space lacked temple-news.com. Colleen Claggett Photography Editor enough space and campus life for its Send submissions to Jeremy Elvas Asst. Photography Editor 1,185 undergraduate students, Stroletters@temple-news.com. Madison Seitchik Co-Multimedia Editor narch said. The Temple News is located at: Jared Giovan Co-Multimedia Editor Comprised of office buildings Student Center, Room 243 1755 N. 13th St. Kathy Chan Assistant Multimedia Editor with narrow hallways that prevented Philadelphia, PA 19122 Ingrid Slater Design Editor students and faculty from interminNicole Hwang Designer gling, it didn’t feel like a lively campus, Stronach added. Phuong Tran Advertising Manager “This is an actual campus in a Kelsey McGill Advertising Manager ON THE COVER neighborhood with things like used Lubin Park Business Manager COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS record stores, bars, restaurants and other universities in close proximity,” he said. This is the fourth move the university has had since its founding in 1982. CORRECTIONS The move has been a long time coming, Stronach said, with four to Accuracy is our business, so when a mistake is made, we’ll correct it as soon as possible. five serious attempts to relocate the Anyone with inquiries about content in this newspaper can contact Editor in Kelly Bren- campus since TUJ last moved 23 nan at editor@temple-news.com or 215-204-6736. years ago. TUJ is the first and oldest foreign university in Japan.

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

Unsigned editorial content represents the opinion of The Temple News.

The university has signed a 20year lease with Showa Women’s University, which owns the building. TUJ will share the campus with the college. “We see this as a brilliant opportunity for two very different to collaborate with one another in a number of different programs to aid in the globalization of education for our students,” Stronach said. The new space offers a cafeteria, student lounges, and meeting rooms, along with a new gym and pool, Stronach said. Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at TUJ, said that in his 32 years of teaching, the new campus is the best he’s been at so far. “The [former campus] was getting dowdy, and felt cramped,” Kingston wrote in an email. “The new campus is gleaming, and brighter and much cooler. I really like the library and hope to see lots of students making the most of our excellent collection on Asia.” Theodore Lee, TUJ’s student government president, said he is most excited for all the new space the campus will provide and utilize the extra space to its full potential. “I can’t wait for the start of the semester when the halls will be filled with students, with this campus the possibilities are endless and I can’t wait to see it all come to life,” Lee wrote in an email to The Temple News. gabrielle.houck@temple.edu @gabbyhouck75

temple-news.com

ADVERTISEMENT

NEWS PAGE 4

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

DEVELOPMENT

Temple experiences Charles Library for first time Parts of the building are still under construction after it opened to the public on Sunday. BY CLAUDIA ESTRADA For The Temple News Hundreds of students and faculty poured into the Charles Library on Sunday when it opened to the public four years after the university broke ground. Some parts of the building are still under construction and are closed off to the public, including the fourth-floor terrace. Concept planning for the library began in 2013 and construction began in 2015. The Board of Trustees originally approved $170 million for the project, but added $5.8 million in March to pay for increasing labor costs, technology and facilities changes. On-going construction includes installing light fixtures, painting, closing holes in some walls and installing signage, said Julia Mullin, the university’s associate director of construction. The building, which replaced Paley Library, features a student success center, more than 40 study rooms, and a digital scholarship area which includes advanced computers and 3D printers, Mullin said. “The strategy is to have small coloration rooms, meeting spaces, big open areas for social activity and quiet study spaces that are connected to technology and innovation,” said Joe Lucia, dean of Temple Libraries. The first thing students see when entering the library is a large, open space on the ground floor that will feature Stella’s, a new cafe that sells La Colombe Coffee. The books are housed in the library by a robotic book retrieval system called DEMATIC. There are a total of four DEMATIC systems in the building, and students can check books out on their mobile devices and have one of the robots retrieve them, Mullin said.

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

The fourth floor holds books that can be checked out, including those too large to fit in the DEMATIC system, Mullin said. The fourth floor will also feature a terrace, which will be a green space used for special events. “That terrace was designed to be a public space, but we have to be careful about what the safety issues are,” Lucia said. “I would like to see us using it as public space.” The space is much larger than Paley, but cannot fit every student because of the university’s growing population and the popularity of the new space, Lucia said. Every table on the ground floor was taken by students on Monday and a long line formed outside the cafe. “Compared to Paley, there’s so much room and more space and actually has a social aspect here rather than the traditional library,” said Tan Lee, a senior kinesiology major. “It’s more like a social and learning hangout for student bodies.” The College of Public Health will likely use vacant space in Paley, said Dozie Ibeh, the associate vice president of Temple’s Project Delivery Group. Paley will undergo construction and redesign would not start for another 15 to 16 months, Ibeh added. claudia.estrada@temple.edu @claudiak_est

MATT ALTEA / THE TEMPLE NEWS The Charles Library opened to the public on Sunday while ongoing construction will continue inside the building throughout the following months.

temple-news.com

NEWS

PAGE 5

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

CAMPUS

Investigations continue after mumps outbreak Temple and city health officials said no students contracted the disease during the summer. BY ISSALINA SAGAD For The Temple News Dominic Martinelli said he had one of the worst cases of the mumps during Temple’s outbreak earlier this year. Martinelli, a junior tourism and hospitality management major, is allergic to the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine. Student Health Services closely monitored his symptoms that continued into the summer. He was among the 186 people infected with the mumps during an outbreak in March at Main Campus that prompted the university to changes its vaccination policies for incoming students. Several months after the start of the outbreak, local health officials are still tallying up the cost of containing the disease, while investigations into how it spread remain ongoing. Newly enrolled students starting classes this week were required to showto show proof of two MMR vaccines, said Mark Denys, director of SHS. The rules closely resemble Pennsylvania’s religious, philosophical or medical exemption law. Temple will be stricter in requiring students to produce documentation for vaccines against diseases like chickenpox and meningitis as well, Denys added. “Do I think that’s going to prevent

@TheTempleNews

anything? No, I think very few people will get vaccinated based on that,” Denys said. “But we’re going to have more information at our fingertips.” Sharing items, like food, cups or cigarettes, was a large factor contributing to the spread of the disease, Denys said. “They put people at risk and just by being in a party environment in the basement of a house, where you’re back to back with people — that’s an environment where things can spread rapidly,” he added. In addition, several of those who had received the MMR vaccine contracted the mumps as the shot is known to be only 88 percent effective in preventing mumps at two doses and 78 percent effective at one dose, Denys said. “If the success rate was higher, then this would not have been an issue to begin with,” he said. The final count of those infected included 175 students, two staff members and nine others not affiliated with Temple, Denys said. Patient zero was a student who acquired the infection outside of the country, said Dana Perella, the manager of the acute communicable disease program at the Philadelphia Department of Health. While there are no reported cases of students contracting mumps during the summer, students should continue to practice good hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, Perella added. “A good lesson learned is keeping an eye out for travel-associated illnesses, especially at the start of the semester,”

DEMI LI / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Perella said. “There’s also the distinct possibility that individuals can be infected from different sources. The virus is circulating abroad.” Students, including those who had already had the second MMR shot, were encouraged to receive another dose of the MMR vaccine in March. Temple Student and Employee Health Services, in conjunction with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, administered close to 5,000 mumps vaccines at the two walk-in clinics. Though the total cost of containing the outbreak is still being calculated, De-

nys said that the sum represented a significant investment from the university. Experts are still investigating how the epidemic spread so widely given that some of the victims had already been vaccinated, Denys and Parella said. “We will be better prepared and have more information to be able to communicate more effectively with people,” Denys added. issalina.sagad@temple.edu

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

NEWS PAGE 6

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

TSG

Parliament fills seats, avoids semester shutdown BecomingTU’s campaign stated it would request Parliament be inactive this semester. BY LAKOTA MATSON TSG Beat Reporter Temple Student Government’s Parliament will remain active this semester despite proposals to make the legislative branch inactive. Parliament will continue to operate because the branch filled vacant seats, said Student Body President Francesca Capozzi, who administration ran on a platform that included shutting down the 37-seat body this semester. During the first campaign debate in March, Capozzi, who was the presidential candidate for BecomingTU, said she would request that Parliament be inactive to fix internal issues like passing and making progress on resolutions, The Temple News reported. “We need to take this time to take a step back and look at what’s the problem and go from there, so [Parliament] can not only be effective next year, but for years to come,” Capozzi said at the debate. Parliament wasn’t running as efficiently as it could have been last year and BecomingTU was trying to think of ways during the campaign to improve the legislative branch, Capozzi said. Whether or not Parliament went inactive depended on whether there were enough seats filled at the beginning of the school year, said Issa Kabeer, the vice-speaker of Parliament. Parliament filled 31 of 37 seats before this semester. The six seats that currently remain open include representatives for the Colleges of Science and Technology, Liberal Arts, Education, Social Work, Engineering as well as the senior representative

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Parliament Speaker Drew Gardner stands outside Temple Student Government’s office in the Student Center on Sunday. He leads TSG’s legislative body.

seat, said Drew Gardner, the speaker of Parliament. “There are some seats that still need to be filled, and I’m going to be taking applications and appointing and interviewing for the rest of the seats,” Gardner said. “All of the seats for Parliament should be filled within the next few weeks and I’m going to be very aggressive about getting people filled.” Parliament has a history of infighting and lack of student involvement,

which prompted BecomingTU to request it be overhauled. In November 2018, the Ethics Board required that Parliament propose 15 new resolutions by the end of the semester after not passing any during the two months prior, The Temple News reported. It also had eight vacant seats at the end of Fall 2018. TSG created Parliament in the 201617 academic year to represent the interests of the student body. There are approximately thirty seats in Parliament,

including representatives within each school at the university, year and student groups like student athletes and commuters. “Taking Parliament out of Temple Student Government is like taking the student out of Temple Student Government,” Gardner said. The first General Assembly is on Sept. 9 at 4 p.m. in Student Center 200C. lakota.matson@temple.edu

temple-news.com

NEWS PAGE 7

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

TUH

Temple enrolls Hahnemann residents after closure Residents had less than two months to find a new program before the hospital closed. BY COLIN EVANS News Editor Months prior to June 26, there had been rumblings inside Hahnemann University Hospital, suggesting it might close. But medical residents like Matthew Parker had been told by program administrators that the hospital had weathered issues in the past and no one should be concerned, he said. When the hospital announced its closure less than a week before the start of the academic year, more than 550 residents were shocked as they were suddenly turned into “orphans” who needed to find another program in just two months, Parker said. That same day, June 26, was also Parker’s birthday. Parker, a fourth-year psychiatry resident, became one of 84 students taken in by Temple as part of a $55-million bid from six local health systems that aimed to accommodate nearly 400 of the orphaned residents after Hahnemann’s sudden closure. “I think it’s better than anyone thought we could get in the situation we were presented,” Parker said of Temple’s acceptance of former Hahnemann residents. “I think the leadership has been fantastic.” Hahnemann announced their closure just two days into Ryan Sardene’s first-year orientation, he said, and it put him and his peers into a state of shock. “It was shocking because it was a 171-year-old institution,” said Sardene, also a psychiatry resident accepted by Temple. “It was older than the Civil War.” Susan Coull, the associate dean of graduate medical education at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, said that the

@TheTempleNews

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Medical resident Matthew Parker sits in front of Temple University Health- Episcopal Campus on Aug. 22, 2019.

closure effectively condensed what is normally a six-month matching process into a month and a half. “This was not a normal situation, clearly,” Coull said. “It was extremely hectic for many reasons.” Hahnemann cited severe financial difficulties in its reason for closing, according to a release from the hospital. The day the closure was announced, Coull and her colleagues scrambled to assess how many residents Temple could add while simultaneously interviewing those residents for the competitive slots. “Each individual residency program needs to evaluate whether they can take additional learners by specialty,” Coull

said. “We all went through that analysis for how many residents we could take without compromising the current class.” But the residents themselves were hit the hardest by the closure, Coull said. “The position they were put in as trainees was incredibly stressful,” she added. “It’s their lives and their careers on the line.” The decision to stay in Philadelphia was easier for Parker because he was in the final year of his residency. Others had to consider whether to essentially start over in a new city, he said. The residents who transferred were appreciative of Temple for making them

feel welcome, Coull said. Most departments hosted welcome receptions for their new trainees, she added. “They really made sure to make us feel welcome from day one,” Parker said. Current residents at Temple scheduled happy hours and time for the new residents to meet with their departments, he added. “You’re on a rollercoaster ride, you’ve got a lot of adrenaline, and you come to a stop. Our stop was at Temple,” Sardene said. “You’re very happy to get off the ride when it’s over.” colin.evans@temple.edu

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

OPINION TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

PAGE 8 EDITORIAL

Utilize open space in Paley After years of exasperating construction, Charles Library is finally open to the public. For the Class of 2020, the opening of the library marks the culmination of a construction process that spanned the majority of their academic careers But the new building makes up for its lengthy timeline with architecture that is spacious, forward-thinking and grandiose. The Temple News Editorial Board acknowledges and appreciates the unique and extravagant space, and we do not doubt that it will serve as a hub for students to innovate and collaborate for years to come.

The Editorial Board urges Temple to think carefully and strategically about how they can use Paley in the coming years. We hope that the university will utilize the partially empty building to meet the needs of schools and colleges throughout the university. The space could give schools that are lacking classroom space a central location to meet and learn. Or why not use this space to expand existing offices and departments, like Tuttleman Counseling services? Paley can still be a building for students to meet, learn, socialize and create if we allow it.

EDITORIAL

Support overseas campuses The most populated metropolis in the world is home to Temple University Japan. Unfortunately, though found in the ever-changing and incredibly modern Tokyo, many students at Main Campus are unaware of the big changes happening on Temple’s campuses overseas. Recently, TUJ, the oldest foreign university in Japan, moved to a six-story building at Showa Women’s University. Left behind were the narrow halls that limited student engagement; students, staff and alumni can now appreciate their own campus culture, rather than hoping for one similar to Main Campus. This is the first step toward a new beginning for TUJ. Students

letters@temple-news.com

will have access to a new location brimming with “used record stores, bars, restaurants and other universities in close proximity,” as well as a brand-new gym complex and pool. The Editorial Board encourages students on Main Campus to support the achievements of those in Japan — whether that be looking into potential study abroad opportunities or simply staying informed. Temple students should actively seek to bridge the gap between Main Campus and its satellite campuses, whether it be a two-mile or 6,700 miles difference.

POLITICS

Rally for real progress, not just against Trump People should demand leaders that chose him or shamelessly chose neither. By the time the general election began, offer solutions rather than those less than half of registered young people votrelying on anti-Trump rhetoric. Is President Donald Trump America’s greatest threat? Some presidential candidates have run their campaign on that exact question. Most candidates cannot go an entire debate ALVIRA BONSU without shaming the FOR THE TEMPLE president. During the July NEWS 30-31 Democratic debates in Detroit, Trump’s name was mentioned 161 times in just two nights, with Senators Michael Bennet and Elizabeth Warren being the biggest offenders, according to USA Today. By simply attacking Trump rather than focusing on issues that affect young people, politicians are relying more on rhetoric than real change. We have to demand more than that from our leaders. If the anti-Trump rhetoric continues to be the driving force behind the Democratic primaries, Trump has a good chance of winning a second term. Younger voters are making a big mistake by feeding into that narrative. “We need to recognize that it is not as simple as unifying young people because people are divided now more than ever,” said Heather LaMarre, a professor of communication and social influence. “It becomes this idea of engaging people on the issues that matter to them, because if candidates rely on a fear campaign, then that will backfire as it did in 2016,” she added. In the 2016 presidential election both major candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, relied on an “us” versus “them” campaign. It ultimately became a question of whether we begrudgingly chose her, quietly

ed for president, according to a 2017 report by the U.S. Census Bureau. Despite being the second largest voting bloc, 18 to 24-year olds are more commonly absent from voting booths than any other age group, according to a 2018 report by Pew Research Center. “However, in the 2018 midterm elections, approximately 36 percent showed up to vote which is unprecedented, so that I think if young people carry that momentum into the 2020 election we can have a large say in who becomes president,” said Christina Borst, president of Temple’s College Democrats. Geoffrey Baym, a professor of media studies and production, argued that “in most recent elections, candidates on both sides of the aisle have had immense success when they put more effort into mobilizing members of their party rather than trying to convert voters.” The Democrats, in that case, will have to tackle issues affecting younger voters, rather than just hating on Trump. We need to demand that candidates address issues directly affecting us, such as climate change and student debt, but we won’t achieve anything by solely bashing Trump. “It will take young changemakers across the country to form a coalition, and if this current generation of young people does that, you will succeed, and you will prevail,” LaMarre said. Relying on rhetoric or name-calling alone won’t solve any problems. By focusing on real issues that affect our everyday lives and forcing our leaders to address them, we have the opportunity to make real progress. There is strength in our numbers. alvira.bonsu@temple.edu

temple-news.com

OPINION

PAGE 9

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

THE ESSAYIST

Picking up a pitch and never looking back

A senior and former opinion editor reflects on the time she’s spent in Temple student media. BY JAYNA SCHAFFER FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS

Elvis Presley’s “(You’re the) Devil in Disguise” is my own personal time machine. It only takes a few seconds of hearing Presley’s voice to transport me to the backseat of my dad’s truck — back to the days of Lunchables and Junie B. Jones. I made my dad play that song so many times on the ride to school, he had to be sick of it. Still, he’d sing along with me, Elvis lip curl and all. Every once in a while, I play the song and think about how excited I was for him to park and walk me up the long driveway to my school’s front door. It sounds silly but I’m actually still that excited about school. And as I begin my senior year at Temple University, I remember how thrilled I was to begin my college experience years ago. In 2015, right before my senior year of high school, I inquired online about Temple’s journalism program, and then-Chairperson and Professor George Miller emailed me right away — inviting me to sit in on his Journalism and Society class. I still have my notes from that first taste of college; the principles of journalism scribbled haphazardly across the pages of a steno pad, smudged by my meddlesome left-handedness. After his class, Miller took me on a tour of the TUTV studio and control room. Essentially, Klein College had me at hello. It was Miller’s seminar and the shiny studio lights that sold me at first, but I there have been so many more things I have come to love as a student journalist.

@TheTempleNews

NICOLE HWANG / THE TEMPLE NEWS

On the first day of classes, I went to a meeting for the Opinion Section of The Temple News because I remembered hearing about it at new-student orientation. I picked up a pitch that day and never looked back. The Temple News office is one of my favorite places. It’s where I’d rush in from class to make it to the weekly meetings during my freshman year, each time leaving with a new op-ed pitch and a fresh argument building in my head. It’s where I’d take over the section as opinion editor for my sophomore and junior years, and it’s where I learned more about teamwork and professionalism than any class could teach. Our copious student media outlets helped me become a convergent journalist, someone who has experience in sto-

rytelling across various platforms. Because I’ve dreamed of being a news reporter since I was a kid, I’ve tried to make the most of all the opportunities before me. I don’t listen to my Elvis song as often as I did in 2003, but I try to channel the same wholeheartedness every day. When I wasn’t in the office or in classes, I was in a soundproof booth talking live on WHIP Radio, behind a studio camera filming Lo Último, brainstorming ideas for Temple Talk at a pre-production meeting or in front of my computer editing my own news packages for Temple Update. Klein College’s classes and resources are incredible but the school you choose is only as great as you make it. Challenge yourself inside and outside of the class-

room. The beauty of campus media is that you don’t need experience to try it out. It becomes your experience. Thanks to the portfolio I’ve crafted through student media, I’ve landed two internships and two jobs at TV news stations in Philadelphia before my senior year. So, I’ll give credit where it’s due: thanks, Temple. I should thank my parents, too, for making me passionate about going to school — and Elvis for the hype song. I think Kindergarten Jayna would be proud of the enthusiasm I’ve kept over the years. Even though I’m sad this chapter is coming to an end, I’m eager to see what door I’ll open up next. jayna@temple.edu @jaynaalexandra_

letters@temple-news.com

OPINION PAGE 10

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

MUSIC

‘Old Town Road’: A lesson in art and innovation Creatives should see Lil Nas X’s Leese said. “That’s where ‘Old Town unique success as a pattern to Road’ comes in. It’s country-trap, which is incredibly different.” follow in their own craft.

TYLER PEREZ OPINION EDITOR

Being a creative is all about innovation. As a poet and a writer, I’m constantly searching for new ways to think divergently, to work outside of what’s considered normal, or even expected, in the

poetic form. Although I’m not a musician, I often look to my favorite songwriters, like Frank Ocean and Bon Iver, for inspiration on how to experiment with the way I write. My newest model to follow, however, is someone I never expected to look to months ago: Lil Nas X. Lil Nas X made history last month for the longest-running number one single of all time with “Old Town Road (Remix),” a country-trap hit featuring country legend Billy Ray Cyrus. The popular song remained number one for 19 weeks, surpassing both “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, and “Despacito (Remix)” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber. The song, featuring contemporary hip-hop sounds alongside a notable country aesthetic, is a crash course in creativity for artists like me. Victoria Leese, a senior media studies and production major and the general manager of WHIP Radio, Temple University’s student-run radio station, has seen the popularity of “Old Town Road” as a radio single. In her eyes, there’s one characteristic of the track, and of Lil Nas X himself, that explains its success. “People like different, and if it’s different and it eventually grows on you, that’s what I think is the key to success,”

letters@temple-news.com

Creatives should take this cue and run with it. Whatever the type of art, we should take heed of Lil Nas X’s example and experiment with art forms in unexpected ways. Art evolves dramatically over time, and we should aim to be one of the catalysts for that change. Sebastian Brennan, a senior international business major and full-time music producer and engineer, said the song’s unique approach to genre is what helped it skyrocket in popularity. “The thing about ‘Old Town Road’ is that it’s genre bending, it blends trap drums with a country-sounding Nine Inch Nails sample, and that helps it stand out,” Brennan said. Eric White, a 2017 journalism alumnus, who works as the music director for Iowa’s KKDM radio, sees how standing out is the best thing an artist can do to be successful. “The first thing I was told when I got into radio is that you really can’t ignore noise,” White said. “If something is out there and it’s making enough noise, it’s hard to pass it by. ‘Old Town Road’ has ridiculously high streaming numbers and it benefits our ratings a lot as a radio station to put it out there.” And Lil Nas X’s influence on the music industry is evident: hip-hop singer Blanco Brown’s country crossover “The Git Up” is currently number one on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, and Billboard itself has directly traced his success to Lil Nas X paving the way for him months earlier. “Experimenting with genres has been going on for a while now but with Lil Nas X, he pushed the envelope about as far as it could go,” White said. Over time, I’ve been experimenting with poetry and slowly developing my own idiosyncratic style in my writing. But artists never stop breaking new

NICOLE HWANG / THE TEMPLE NEWS

ground, and after looking at Lil Nas X’s creative approach to genre in music, I keep looking for new ways to push my poetry forward, and I urge others to pull an “Old Town Road” experiment with their own art.

Innovation is vital and all artists should defy what’s expected. Who knows, maybe the next “Old Town Road” will come from one of us. tyler.perez@temple.edu @tyler7perez

temple-news.com

OPINION PAGE 11

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

ENVIRONMENT

Take steps toward sustainability, ditch the plastic A Philadelphia City Council bill banning plastic bags could eliminate waste and combat climate change. “Do you need a bag?” I get asked this question every time I go shopping. Reusable bag in hand, I always say ‘no’ to a plastic bag. CHRISTINA This question MITCHELL may be insignificant FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS to some people, but as of 2015, the world has produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic, with more than two-thirds of that eventually becoming waste, according to the Center for International Environmental Law. Every plastic bag we use contributes to this, and the city has proposed a solution: ban plastic bags. On June 20, Philadelphia City Councilman Mark Squilla introduced a bill that would ban any single-use plastic bags thinner than 2.5 millimeters, as well as impose a 15-cent fee per non-reusable bag. The purpose of this bill was to discourage frivolous usage of bags and encourage customers to bring their own. Many businesses, like Whole Foods, already incentivize customers to bring their own bags by giving them a 10-cent refund per bag. It’s not a lot of money but when you look at the bigger picture, every little bit makes a difference. “This waste is not just ending up in the oceans ... it is also accumulating in our streets,” said Nic Esposito, director of the city’s Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet. Plastic is the fourth most common waste product in the U.S. and accounts for 17 percent of floating waste in river, he added.

@TheTempleNews

Banning plastic bags is an opportunity to eliminate excess plastic waste and combat the negative effects of pollution. The bill also does not negatively affect businesses. In fact, it could help them. “It’s not meant to punish small businesses because this bill requires the business owners to collect a 15-cent fee on the thicker bags, which cost more to supply, and a ban on thinner bags,” said Libby Peters, director of policy and performance for the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. “This is a fee that the retailer keeps, not a tax to the city, so if there is a cost difference, that 15 cent fee would offset the cost,” Peters added. The cost of rampant plastic pollu-

ALI GRAULTY / THE TEMPLE NEWS

tion outweighs the momentary cost of switching to reusable bags, and we don’t have much time to make up our minds. Emily Rodden, hub coordinator for the Sunrise Movement, a coalition of young people fighting to stop climate change, sees the urgency of addressing this situation. “The way that we have consumed so many of the resources on this planet in such a short time is scary,” Rodden said. “I think people are more aware of it now, and I want to be positive and say if we can get as many people as possible on board, then the trajectory won’t be as bleak.”

Unfortunately, this is not going to happen overnight. But, this problem is reversible if we continue to think of solutions like Squilla’s bill. “It’s hard because we have such a finite time to do this. Waiting for people’s ideology to change takes a lot of time. So, do we wait for the general consensus to change or do we call everyone to action right now?” Rodden added. The next time you’re asked if you need a plastic bag, think about it first. The fate of our planet is quite literally in your hands. christina.mitchell@temple.edu

FEATURES

PAGE 12

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

CAMPUS

Librarians reflect on new technologies at Charles Librarians anticipated the excitement surrounding the new space, which opened on Sunday. BY BIBIANA CORREA Assistant Features Editor For librarians like Sandi Thompson, head of suburban campus libraries at Temple University, the transition from Paley Library to a highly technological Charles Library, is both exciting and nerve-wracking. “The opportunity to be in a brand new, state-of-the-art university library in the heart of the campus is astounding,” Thompson said. “People are trying to be as positive as possible because that result is going to be more than worth it.” Thompson recalls having to take a typing test when she first applied to work as a librarian, 50 years ago. Although Charles Library’s approach is new and innovative, she feels the core values that Temple Libraries hold have been the same throughout her career. “We wanted to do everything that we could to present an education to the people and I loved that. I still do,” she said. Charles Library, which opened on Aug. 25, was designed with people in mind and to serve as a space for exchanging ideas, said Sara Wilson, the library outreach and communications administrator. With this new space, Wilson hopes Charles will offer more opportunities for students and faculty to collaborate and research. The library is designed with 30 study rooms, a Digital Scholars Studio, a 24/7 study area, a built-in cafe and the Student Success Center, which was previously located in the Tuttleman Learn-

features@temple-news.com

ing Center. New technology, like 3D and laser printing, and virtual reality equipment will also be available for students to use in the Lorretta C. Duckworth Scholarship Studio. “When we designed the building, one of our primary goals was to create more space for people rather than materials,” Wilson said. One of the biggest innovations Charles offers is the automated storage and retrieval system, more commonly known as the Book Bot. The system houses 1.5 million books and is designed to make book selection easier. Users order the book online and the machine sends a bin containing that book to a librarian, who then obtains the specified work. Many librarians, such as Learning Research Services Librarian Rebecca Lloyd, are excited about the new ways the Temple community will be able to utilize the information both the library and librarians are able to provide. “It’s going to make people more excited to be in a library and then more inquisitive with how can librarians and other staff help them with their research, and to help them make connections and expand our knowledge in new ways,” Lloyd said. Steven Bell, associate university librarian, agreed with Lloyd, and added that the new library has been constructed with resources that Paley was never built or intended to provide. “This is a library for the way people study, work, collaborate and engage with each other,” he said. “This is a library for now and it’s also a library for the future.” Just as the idea of what a modern-day library should look like has adapted, so has the roles of the librarians. Now librarians are making virtual presences

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Sandra Thompson, head of suburban campus libraries, poses for a portrait in Charles Library on Aug. 19, 2019.

outside of libraries to bring information directly to students, according to Bell. “Librarians, in academic libraries, have vastly increased our educational mission,” he said. “We really see ourselves as partners with faculty and collaborators to help our students learn how to do effective research. When there’s so much misinformation being distributed, it’s really critical. We see our role as helping our students become digital citizens.” Opening Charles brings nervous but

hopeful attitudes among staff about how the community and ‌the‌ ‌librarians‌ ‌themselves will adapt to their new roles in the space, Thompson said. “It’s going to be a brand new space where you have to rethink what a library is, what a library does, what a library accomplishes and what a library can do for you,” she said. bibiana.correa@temple.edu _bibi_correa

temple-news.com

FEATURES PAGE 13

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

CAMPUS

Study abroad program will reflect on identities A student created program to “When you think of Italy, people say encourage cultural immersion things like, ‘gelato’ and ‘I enjoyed the pizamong minority groups. za,’” he said. “But what other experiences

do you have? What interpersonal connections are you making while you’re abroad? That’s kind of the basis of the program.” As an American studying abroad at Students in the program received Temple Rome in fall 2017, Ewan John- $800 for attending culture-focused son did not expect to be mistaken for a immersion trips in Rome, completrefugee, but while interning at the Joel ing monthly group discussion and blog Nafuma Refugee Center it happened posts, producing a final video and parmore than once. ticipating in a panel at the end of their “I was extremely racialized before semester abroad. I went abroad, and then I went abroad, Temple and non-Temple students and was able to see race from a different studying at Temple Rome can particicontext,“ he said. pate. This semesters’ participants will be Johnson attributed his race as the announced in September. main reason for this assumption because Sara Sequin, associate director of he himself saw no visual difference be- education abroad and overseas campustween him and the displaced persons he es, said that some students of color have met while working at the center. found Italy’s cultural climate to be chalSince returning to Philadelphia, lenging and have faced “unwanted and Johnson has established the Culture and discriminatory comments.” Identity Envoy Program with Temple Ashley Abraham, an accountancy Rome and Temple Education Abroad graduate student and 2019 political scithat will pilot this semester. The pro- ence alumna, studied at Temple Rome in gram encourages students from margin- fall 2017. alized identities to reflect on their expeIt was her first time traveling to riences while studying in a new culture. Europe, and she recalled being the only Four students will participate in cultural person of color in her travel group and immersion experiences and group dis- being subjected to TSA pat-downs uncussions, while writing blog posts shared like her peers. on Education Abroad’s website. “It kind of felt hard when that would The proposal for the Culture and happen,” Abraham said. “[My peers] Identity Envoy Program aims to increase could sympathize with me but they diverse student representation abroad. couldn’t really empathize with what I Johnson said that while study- was going through.” ing abroad, he felt that many students As a first-generation immigrant and weren’t actively reflecting on their expe- woman of color, Abraham added that riences.

BY MADISON KARAS Features Editor

@TheTempleNews

CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Ewan Johnson explains his Culture and Identity Envoy program in the study abroad office in Tuttleman Hall on Aug. 19, 2019.

programs like Johnson’s are important to encourage more students of color to go abroad. “It can serve a dual purpose in bringing to light the challenges students may face, while at the same time showing how ... they’ve navigated the experiences, and what resources are available to students,” Sequin said. She added she is excited about the program as a student-led initiative. Benedicta Djumpah, a student life assistant at Temple Rome, expressed her hopes for the study-abroad population to reflect Main Campus’ diversity through this program. Johnson, who identifies as a Black

person with a disability, hopes that the program acts as an example of “lived experiences” for students from marginalized communities to look to when considering studying abroad. “You need to come up with creative solutions to make sure that the experience abroad is as inclusive and aware as possible so that you don’t have people that come back home and say, ‘Oh, I never want to go out and experience the world again,’” he added. karas@temple.edu @madraekaras

features@temple-news.com

FEATURES PAGE 14

ADVERTISEMENT

STUDENT ORGS

‘The Temp’ airs debate New show wants to promote a free exchange of opinions less emails, applications and late nights, among students. Alonso said. She praised her team for BY VINCENT DIMICHELE For The Temple News

Taking a sociology course in spring 2019, Mydia Alonso realized her passion for discussing social topics. Alonso wanted to create a platform where people could speak freely about issues that affect college students and beyond. As a result, she initiated TUTV’s newest talk show, The Temp. “I thought that there was a lack of important issues and topics that students weren’t getting access to,” said Alonso, the show’s executive producer and junior journalism major. The freedom and empowerment to speak about controversy is important to the show’s goal, she said. Milly McKinnish, a sophomore journalism and film major and The Temp’s director of design and graphics, said she felt that something was missing from Temple’s media and that other TUTV shows avoided political and social issues. “We don’t want to be just another TUTV show, we want to be involved with our audience and talk about more controversial issues,” McKinnish said. She added that issues will include topics like sugar babies on campus, JUUL regulations and police brutality. While Temple-related issues are a focus of the show, The Temp will cover topics that affect the general public. For Alonso the goal is to be able to present all sides of any topic. The Temp’s crew hope to include guests, such as students, professors and local representatives, who will share opinions and unique insights on topics, while engaging in healthy debate. “We want to provide a voice to a lot of the student body here at Temple,” said Kyra Sobel, a social media team member and sophomore journalism major. Creating The Temp required countfeatures@temple-news.com

believing in her mission and journalism professor Francesca Viola for approving the show. The show will focus on being unbiased. Sobel hopes that viewers will be able to form their own opinions about topics. “We have an obligation to tell you the facts and let you run with it,” she added. Since the beginning of August, polls posted on The Temp’s Twitter and Instagram have given viewers an outlet to express their opinion on what will be discussed. Audience already voted on topics such as Trump tarrifs and mass shootings. The Temp crew of around 50 students hail from different colleges, including Klein College of Media and Communication, Tyler School of Art and Architecture and the College of Liberal Arts. The diversity of majors behind the show allows it to have even more unique viewpoints, according to Alonso. The show’s production schedule is not yet confirmed, but the crew expects to have their first air date by the end of September. Each episode will be about 30 minutes. “It was not an easy effort, and I’m sure that this entire semester ahead of us won’t be an easy effort either,” Alonso said. “But I think that my team and I are determined enough to get our mission out there and make it happen.” vincent.dimichele@temple.edu

temple-news.com

FEATURES TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

PAGE 15

LIVE IN PHILLY

VEENA PRAKRIYA / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Manayunk holds festival for dogs from across Philly

Manayunk celebrated the Dog Day of Summer on Aug. 24 with rescue dogs from across the Philadelphia area. It also featured adoption booths, obstacle courses, food trucks and raffles. Visitors spent the day in the sun with some of Manayunk’s four-legged residents. The event also held a “Pup Crawl,” which sold drinks to festival-goers. For each $1 spent, another was donated to the National Canine Cancer Foundation. “This is an incredibly diverse community,” said Carol DiMaria, a volunteer, as she held a dog named Oliver. “We get to show off so many of our adorable puppies.” Many volunteers said the event is great way for people to learn about adopting pets.

@TheTempleNews

FEATURES PAGE 16

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

FACULTY

Climbing Mt. Everest fulfills a 15-year-old goal An endontology professor scaled from 9,000 feet to 18,000 feet, Terry his last mountain to complete added. When scaling Everest, climbers the seven highest peaks in May. BY EMMA PADNER For The Temple News In 2004, Bruce Terry’s wife handed him a magazine. article about a man with little climbing experience who scaled Mount Rainier in Washington. “She said, ‘Happy birthday, go do this. It sounds like it’s miserable.’ So I took her up on the challenge,” said Terry, a 1986 alumnus of Temple University’s Kornberg School of Dentistry and current assistant clinical professor of endodontics. At the time, his wife Susan Scanlon had no idea that she sparked a new passion within her husband: to scale the seven highest mountains on Earth. Terry completed this goal when he reached the summit of Mount Everest in the early morning on May 23. He assumes himself to be the first dentist to summit the seven peaks, an unofficial climbing joke among his colleagues and climbing friends. Terry said that when he started climbing, his wife and children didn’t want him to climb Everest because of possible lack of oxygen, inclement weather and avalanches. “After I had gotten about four or five of the seven summits under my belt, all of the sudden the tone started to change in my family [to], ‘so are you going to do Everest?’” he said. Terry’s climbing group met in Kathmandu, Nepal, in late March. From there, the group was flown to Lukla, a small town in northern Nepal, where they began the climb for Everest Base Camp. The base camp trek takes climbers through the scenic Khumbu Valley, ultimately taking about 10 days to hike

features@temple-news.com

split the trek into one to three day trips, called upper mountain rotations, to acclimate to altitude changes. Between the rotations, they stayed at four different camps stationed on the mountain, many of which Terry said he took through the Khumbu Icefall. “Getting to Everest base camp for me was like a child getting to Disneyland,” Terry said. Every May, the sherpa, or mountain guides, fix the ropes leading to Mount Everest so climbers can summit. The climbers then wait at base camp for a weather report that shows clear conditions for about five to six days. This year, Terry said there were only two clear days of weather, which created a “traffic jam” on the mountain. Luckily, Terry’s group, which had people from 10 different countries, trekked during the night, so they ran into very little traffic going up the mountain. Terry’s immediate group started the climb at 7.30 p.m. and reached the summit at 5.30 a.m. “It a very surreal experience, for 10 hours you’re just climbing in the night and all you see are headlamps and everyone is silent,” Terry said. “It’s just very eerie.” Terry’s family tracked his movement via satellite, through a device called Garmin inreach, while he summited. “I became a nervous wreck,” Scanlon said. “I started just refreshing the screen to see if the little blue dot that was [Terry] had moved at all. We saw he hit the top and made it to the summit, and we were all very excited and very relieved.” Brady O’Mara, a physical therapist at Seven Summits Therapy and Fitness, is Terry’s best friend and training partner of 12 years. The two met while training

EMMA PADNER / THE TEMPLE NEWS Bruce Terry holds a photo of himself at the summit of Mount Everest on May 23.

for different climbs in Valley Forge Park, Pennsylvania, and later climbed Mount Elbrus in Russia and Denali in Alaska together. “Everybody was pulling for him [to summit Everest] but I knew a lot more of the ups and downs, physically and psychologically that you go through on the mountain,” O’Mara said. “Bottom line is that I’m proud of him and excited he achieved his goal.” O’Mara typically climbs with people from all over the world, but it was nice to climb with a familiar face, he said. Terry said he’s not sure what his

next goal will be. As a self-described “type-A, goal-oriented person without a goal,” he has to find another mountain to climb soon, Terry said. “Everest is definitely going to be one for the books, for everything about it. It was just such a long adventure that holds so many memories because there are so many different parts of it.” emma.padner@temple.edu @emmapadner

temple-news.com

INTERSECTION PAGE 17

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY

Title X ‘gag rule’ limits Student Health Services President Donald Trump’s administration put restrictions on Title X earlier this year. BY ZILLAH ELÇIN For The Temple News

Due to changes in Title X funding, a federal grant reserved for Family Planning, staff at the Temple Student Health Services can no longer refer patients seeking an abortion to a clinic. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated to providing family planning health care to people and programs who are considered low-income or under-insured, according to the Physicians for Reproductive Health. President Donald Trump’s administration changed Title X’s provisions in February; any program that offers abortions or refers patients to a separate location risks losing funding. Reproductive rights advocates are dubbing the change a “gag rule,” according to the Guttmacher Institute, as it limits health care professionals’ ability to communicate and provide complete care to their patients. Sarah Sherr, a nurse practitioner at SHS, said healthcare workers want to communicate with their patients openly, but are being prevented from doing so by the revisions to Title X. “It creates an ethical dilemma, because legally we can’t [refer patients to abortion care], but morally it feels wrong not to tell patients all their options,” Sherr said. Carla Castillo, a junior neuroscience major, said she is concerned about how the gag rule will affect pregnant, college-aged women. Students who have children are less likely to graduate than childless

@TheTempleNews

CLAUDIA SALVATO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Student Health Services cannot refer students to abortion services under changes to Title X.

college students, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. “It’s maintaining a cycle of poverty ... I think everyone needs to know about this,” Castillo added. “Men aren’t going to be on the hook for a baby, they can get off scot-free most of the time. They can walk out.” Jiali Dong, a 2019 public health alumna, said the gag rule jeapordizes women’s access to a safe and legal abortion as a form of family planning. “Reproductive health is becoming more important as people want to have their families later in life,” Dong said. “A few generations before they were getting married earlier. Nowadays women want to have more choice, and strive for their own pro-

fessional life.” Planned Parenthood recently refused Title X funding due to new restrictions from the gag rule because in some rural communities, Planned Parenthood is the only provider of services such as abortion, The New York Times reported. Over 4 million patients rely on Title X annually, according to Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “Many of these patients are low-income, young, uninsured or people of color, showing the TrumpPence administration’s disinterest in protecting the most vulnerable,” said Christina Borst, Temple Democrats president and senior strategic communication and political science double major.

Borst volunteered with Planned Parenthood’s health center advocacy program when the gag rule was announced. Students can research their options regarding reproductive healthcare on the ‘Family Planning’ tab available through SHS website. “Your gender identity or the amount of money you have should not directly correlate to your level of access to affordable health care,” Borst added. “Politicizing reproductive health is another way to police women and their bodies. Everyone is deserving of making choices about their care.” zillah.elcin@temple.edu @zill_elcin

features@temple-news.com

INTERSECTION PAGE 18

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY

in Higher Education BY ALESIA BANI and GIONNA KINCHEN Intersection Co-Editors

I

ntersection was new to The Temple News last year, tasked with focusing on the intersectionality of identities within the Temple community. Specifically, we work to tell the stories of communities at Temple who have not always been heard, and we will continue that mission this year. Our content strives to be as diverse and inclusive as the population it serves. For the first issue of our second year, we are celebrating Women’s Equality Day. We have chosen to highlight just some of the women who help lead this institution. We have curated a collection of anecdotes from these women, so they can share what type of leader they are at Temple. We thank you for sharing your stories. We hope students are inspired by their leadership following Women’s Equality Day.

intersection@temple-news.com

Karen M. Turner

“

Associate Professor, Department of Journalism At Temple I’ve held leadership positions as a department chair, the president of the Faculty Senate and currently the director of the Academic Center on Research in Diversity (ACCORD). I’ve been given an opportunity to have a voice to positively affect change on a multitude of levels. I firmly believe if one obtains a place at the table one must actively use that platform and provide ways to brings others along. Leading can be challenging especially if one aims to be a change agent. It’s not always easy because change can bring about resis-

tance and sometimes create adversaries. But over the years I have developed confidence in my decisions and the vigilance to pursue those issues I deem important. My barometer is, can I look myself in the mirror? I firmly believe we have all have a purpose in life. Mine is to create situations to engage in honest conversations about diversity and inclusion. These can be messy issues usually with complex resolutions. I had to realize as a leader that I don’t always have to have the answers. My greatest discoveries have come when I didn’t.

”

temple-news.com

INTERSECTION PAGE 19

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

Dr. Stephanie Ives

“

Associate Vice President and Dean of Students In my 11 years as an administrator at Temple University, I’ve had many opportunities to develop a nuanced leadership style in an effort to effect change. Over the years, I’ve intentionally cultivated a collaborative leadership approach, seeking input from many voices to create a shared vision and

mutual goals. I am aware that particular situations can influence my leadership approach but in general, I aim for modeling values, such as trust, honesty and integrity, I’d like others to embrace, giving positive and affirming feedback to encourage progress and achievement and cultivating a competent,

can-do attitude that inspires my colleagues and students to meet challenges head on. I don’t think my approach or style is unique or exclusive to women, but feeling comfortable with myself as this type of leader certainly makes me more effective.

”

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Temple University Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Stephanie Ives interacts with students during TempleFest on Aug. 22, 2019.

Lori Bailey

“

Director of Information & Instructional Technology Even with our society’s renewed focus on removing gender barriers and expanding the pipeline, as a simple Google news search will evidence, being a woman in technology leadership often means being in the minority. And certainly, with over 20 years of experience in technology and higher education, I’ve had the experience, more than once, of being the only woman seated at the table. And yes, I would certainly agree that more needs to be done to encourage women in leadership and in technology across industries. Yet, I can confidently say that Temple is a higher education institution that supports leaders and innovators of all backgrounds. I collaborate daily with diverse leaders across the university and I have rarely, if ever, felt that I am not being heard or respected because of my gender. Indeed, I would struggle to point to a time when I experienced anything but genuine support and respect for the skills

@TheTempleNews

and expertise I bring to a project or team. I can name a significant number of women in leadership positions across Temple. Temple has provided me numerous opportunity to engage with them for mentorship and guidance in developing and shaping my own leadership style and goals. Being a leader at Temple is about collaboration: faculty, staff and students all work toward the shared goal of advancing teaching, research and service. My Temple colleagues, both male and female, reach out to me for help with tasks and technologies that they know I manage well. I, in turn, reach out to them to learn and grow my portfolio of experience. Through this community of support, Temple gives me confidence, as a woman in technology, when working with external partners and companies – confidence built from an environment of respect for my abilities and experience regardless of my gender.

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Director of Information and Instructional Technology for the College of Education Lori Bailey sits in her office in Ritter Hall on Aug. 22, 2019.

It is that confidence that empowers me to speak up, join in, challenge and engage, even in those times when I find myself the only woman in the room.

”

intersection@temple-news.com

INTERSECTION PAGE 20

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY

Club challenges perception of women’s rubgy Women’s rugby club members bring attention to female athletes in male-dominated sports. BY MEAGHAN BURKE For The Temple News For some 30 women at Temple University, an exciting addition to the college grind is participating in the club rugby team. Women’s Rugby Club President Sierra Pullano wants to challenge the perception that rugby is only for men. “I think playing any sport in general is empowering but especially a sport that automatically everybody’s thought process goes straight to male,” said Pullano, a junior environmental studies major. “It’s cool to try to change that stereotype.” Temple’s women’s rugby club was founded in 1995 and is a student-run competitive club sport. They are a Division I member of the Mason Dixon Conference and compete against local schools and even travel to face off against teams across the U.S. The history of women’s rugby is vague, with the first documented game only occurring in 1968 despite recordings leading back to the late19th century, according to the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO). It took Temple over a decade after its men’s club was founded in 1982 to recognize women’s rugby. Honor Burke, public relations chair and a sophomore theater, film and media arts major, said the team gets less attention than their male counterparts, but hopes Temple students will come to their games.

intersection@temple-news.com

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS (From left to right) Hannah Daniele, Honor Burke, Sierra Pullano, Kendra Schmit and Alizee Baribaud stand in the STAR Complex on Aug. 20, 2019.

“A lot of people on campus don’t even know that we have a women’s rugby team,” Burke said. “I know at least one person has just assumed I played for the men’s team somehow when I told them I played rugby.” This past spring, the team came in second place at the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference, runs more than 50 collegiate rugby programs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware

and West Virginia. Deja O’Riordan, junior media studies production major, said she hopes the women’s side will grow. “I have played sports all my life. I did cross country, basketball, lacrosse, soccer and karate,” O’Riordan said. “None of those sports makes me feel what I do when I wear cherry and white. I play the same game as the men, so I feel very much empow-

ered.” In team sports such as rugby, the girls come together to empower each other. “It’s just such a close knit group of girls,” said Burke. “I don’t know if tough’s a good word, but we are tough but also welcoming.” meaghan.burke@temple.edu @meaghanburke61

temple-news.com

SPORTS PAGE 21

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Carey looks to provide speed and health as coach The Owls enter the season with Rod Carey looking to turn his new philosophies into wins. BY DANTE COLLINELLI Assistant Sports Editor

Every coach has a different approach. When Rod Carey was hired to replace Geoff Collins, he became the fourth person to coach the Owls in the last four years. The Owls are adjusting to another style of coaching. Compared to Collins’ practices, Carey’s are shorter, feature fast-paced drills and more time for rest. At Collins’ camps, players could be at practice in full pads until 10 p.m., said senior linebacker Shaun Bradley. Now, players have gone home around 7 p.m., giving them more time to rest. “Not being in full pads every day takes some weight off our shoulders and allows us to recover faster,” Bradley said. Carey and his staff are allowing players to sit out of practice when they get injured more often than Collins’ staff did, Bradley added. During the offseason, redshirtjunior quarterback Anthony Russo, redshirt-junior wide receiver Branden Mack and junior cornerback Harrison Hand were held out or limited for multiple days of practice. Carey’s practices are quicker than Collins’. Carey likes to see the players run to all of their drills and switch between coaches frequently, Bradley said. Along with installing quicker practices, Carey has implemented a fastpaced offense, similar to Collins’offense last season. Players said Carey’s style is quicker this season, and his fast-paced practices

@TheTempleNews

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Temple University football coach Rod Carey watches his team at Geasey Field on Aug. 13, 2019.

have prepared them for this. “I think we will have a smoother transition for running uptempo. Last year was our first year running it,” said Jovahn Fair, a graduate offensive lineman. “We had a lot of practice with it over the summer and over the winter to get it down.” The new offensive scheme will allow the quarterback to have more control through the use of run-pass options.

“In the older offense, we had RPOs but in this offense, almost every run play has some pass options,” Russo said. “Instead of me just handing the ball to [Ryquell Armstead] like I was last year, this year I’ll be reading maybe a safety or linebacker.” Last season at Northern Illinois University, Carey’s offense averaged 20.1 points per game while Temple’s offense averaged 34.92 points.

“We are not going to be perfect,” Carey said on Aug. 16. “We are not asking for perfection, but we are asking to control the controllables.” The Owls will have their first opportunity to showcase the new offense and new tempo against Bucknell University on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. dante.collinelli@temple.edu @DanteCollinelli

sports@temple-news.com

SPORTS PAGE 22

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Carey keeps ‘foundational’ single-digit tradition The tradition has endured through the team’s coaching changes since 2013. BY JAY NEEMEYER Sports Editor Four coaches, nine seasons and nine digits. Single-digit TUFF — a tradition introduced a decade ago — will continue this season under coach Rod Carey. “It’s a part of the fabric of who we are,” Carey said on Aug. 20. “I don’t think when you go through transitions that you come in and try to change a foundational piece. That’d be like trying to change ‘Temple TUFF.’” Players who are the toughest and most dedicated are awarded single-digit jersey numbers — a concept introduced by former coach Al Golden in 2009. After he left in 2010, the tradition was briefly set aside during former coach Steve Addazio’s tenure, but was revived in 2013. It has continued through the tenures of Matt Rhule,

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ship,” Crump said. POSITION BATTLES Crump is one of the many Owls battling for a starting spot. He is competing with redshirt-sophomore cornerback Christian Braswell, redshirt-sophomore cornerback Ty Mason, junior cornerback Harrison Hand and redshirt-junior cornerback Freddie Johnson. Johnson converted to cornerback this offseason after playing the last three seasons as wide receiver. Hand transferred to Temple after two seasons at Baylor University. A spot in the starting rotation has to be earned, Hand said. “With the depth that we have, there’s a lot of competition,” Hand sports@temple-news.com

Geoff Collins and now Carey. On Aug. 17, graduate offensive lineman Jovahn Fair was elected as a single-digit player by his teammates. Fair said it was a “great feeling” to follow in the footsteps of other players honored through the tradition, which he hopes stays with the team “forever.” “It’s a part of our foundation, it’s why we are who we are,” Fair said. “We have a brotherhood and a great culture, and that’s a strong part of it.” The NCAA requires offensive linemen to wear jersey numbers between 50 and 79. Fair will wear number 70 on the field this season, as he has since 2015. Fair said the team might create a sticker or patch for him to wear the symbolic number. Redshirt-junior wide receiver Branden Mack, senior wide receiver Isaiah Wright, graduate linebacker Chapelle Russell, senior linebacker Shaun Bradley and graduate offensive lineman Matt Hennessy were named single-digit players at the beginning of preseason camp

on Aug. 2. Russell, Bradley and Hennessy are returning single-digit players, first honored in 2018. On Aug. 24, the final three single-digit players were revealed. Redshirt-junior defensive tackle Daniel Archibong will wear number six, senior wide receiver Randle Jones will wear seven and redshirt-junior linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley will wear eight. “When I got mine, everybody was all happy for me,” Bradley said on Aug. 23. “The older single-digits were there and they were like, ‘Welcome to the single-digits. So now I look at it the same way. Seeing someone get a single digit, I’m like ‘Bro, welcome. Congrats. It’s a big thing, it’s a big honor to have here. You represent the university well.’”

said. “Every time we’re in the film room, it’s a competition answering questions. On the field, we’re competing. If you mess up on a rep, you’re out.” The Owls have to replace former running back Ryquell Armstead, who was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2019 NFL Draft. Armstead rushed for 1,098 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. The most experienced running back on the Owls’ roster is graduate running back Jager Gardner. He compiled 585 rushing yards and four touchdowns in four seasons with the Owls. The backfield includes freshman Re’Mahn Davis and redshirt-freshman Kyle Dobbins. “[Gardner] has done a nice job of taking over as the senior spokes-

man,” Infante said. “Having a relatively young, inexperienced group, the fact that we have a guy that’s been here for a while who’s been through a lot of different programs and cultures here.” Multiple players are competing for the starting kicker spot, coach Rod Carey said. Former kicker Aaron Boumerhi transferred to Boston College in June. He only played in two games last season after being sidelined due to a hip injury. Redshirt-sophomore kicker Will Mobley, who replaced Boumerhi, made 11-of-15 field goal attempts last season. Graduate kicker Jacob LaFree is competing with Mobley for the starting spot. LaFree joined the team after four years at the Division II level at the University of India-

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Redshirt-junior wide receiver Branden Mack receives a pass during practice at Geasey Field on Aug 13, 2019.

jay.neemeyer@temple.edu @neemeyer_j

napolis. It is too early to tell if Redshirt-junior quarterback Anthony Russo, who suffered a lower-leg injury on Aug. 12, will be ready to play on Saturday, Carey told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday. Russo is slated to star this season. Starting spots will be announced ahead of Saturday’s game. The Owls will have to respond to their adjustments if they want to win, Carey said. “I’m sure they’re not gonna do everything the same,” Carey said. “It’s gonna be a merging of the minds. We’ll have to be really good in the game about adjusting to what we see.” alex.mcginley@temple.edu @mcginley_alex

temple-news.com

SPORTS PAGE 23

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Transfers vye for starting spot ahead of opener Several of Temple’s transfers have impressed coach Rod Carey’s staff. BY ALEX McGINLEY Assistant Sports Editor Temple football added several transfer players to its roster during the offseason. The new additions are competing with returning Owls for starting spots ahead of their first game against Bucknell University on Saturday. Here is a breakdown of some of the new players. HARRISON HAND Junior cornerback Harrison Hand joined the team’s secondary after playing the past two seasons at Baylor University under former coach Matt Rhule. Hand transferred to the university at the same time as Francis Brown, codefensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach, returned to Temple after two seasons at Baylor. Brown was re-hired in December 2018. Hand considered committing to Temple before Brown left the Owls’ coaching staff to go to Baylor. Having taken similar paths, the two now come to Temple with a strong relationship. “I look up to [Brown] in so many ways,” Hand said. “When we talk, it’s not always just about football. We could be on the phone talking about life and money decisions and business decisions. It’s great to have him in my corner.” In 2018, Hand recorded 13 tackles and three passes defended. But in recent weeks, Hand was held out of practice with an undisclosed injury.

@TheTempleNews

NICOLE HWANG / THE TEMPLE NEWS

AYRON MONROE The Owls’ secondary gained graduate safety Ayron Monroe who transferred after three seasons at Penn State. Monroe, who played on both defense and special teams, recorded 40 tackles and 1.5 sacks during his career at Penn State. Monroe is competing for the starting safety spot alongside sophomore DaeSean Winston and freshman M.J. Griffin. The winner will play opposite of starting senior safety Benny Walls. “[Monroe] brings a lot of leadership in the room,” safeties coach Melvin Rice said. “When he talks, a lot of the other guys listen. He doesn’t want to make the same mistakes that everybody else makes. Monroe just adds another voice.”

JACOB LAFREE Graduate kicker Jacob LaFree spent the last four years at the University of Indianapolis, a Division II team. LaFree was used as a kickoff specialist and averaged 61.7 yards per kickoff with the Greyhounds. LaFree could fill the void of former kicker Aaron Boumerhi who transferred to Boston College in June. LaFree is competing with redshirtsophomore Will Mobley for the role of starting kicker. Lafree has been sidelined from practice in recent weeks with a quad injury, Carey said on Aug. 16. ADAM BARRY Sophomore punter Adam Barry comes to the Owls after attending Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas, last season.

Barry averaged 37.4 yards on 47 punts in nine games last season, and his longest punt went for 72 yards. Barry fills the former punter Connor Bowler’s spot after he transferred to the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Barry and redshirtsophomore Max Cavallucci are the only punters on Temple’s roster. Carey believes the additions of LaFree and Barry have bolstered the Owls’ special teams unit. “I like the legs,” Carey said. “Mobley and LaFree are in a really tight battle. Adam Barry has done a nice job. His consistency is coming around.” The new additions to the team will have their first chance to see playing time on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field against Bucknell University. alex.mcginley@temple.edu @mcginley_alex

sports@temple-news.com

SPORTS

2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

PAGE 24

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019

ADAPTING TO CHANGES

BY ALEX McGINLEY Assistant Sports Editor

Temple football prepares for a new season under a new coach.

T

emple football knows nothing is guaranteed. The Owls finished second in its conference last season with a 7-1 record and their only loss came against Central Florida, 52-40, on Nov. 1, 2018. This season, the American Athletic Conference preseason poll projects Temple to finish fourth in the East behind Central Florida, Cincinnati and South Florida. Players have tried impress a new staff and secure a starting spot, and the Owls will find out how they’ve adjusted to new changes on Saturday at its season opener against Bucknell University at Lincoln Fisports@temple-news.com

nancial Field. CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN Temple will play four non-conference games before playing eight in conference. The Owls’ conference schedule begins against East Carolina on Oct. 3 in Greenville, North Carolina. Last season, the Owls defeated the Pirates at home 49-6. They will play Memphis on Oct. 12 and Oct. 19 against Southern Methodist in Dallas. The Owls last faced both Memphis and SMU in 2016. They lost to Memphis on the road, 34-27, and

Temple Fo

otball co

beat SMU at home, 45-20. Temple will play Central Florida at home on Oct. 26., then hit the road to face South Florida on Nov. 7. In 2018, Temple defeated the Bulls, 27-17, at home on Nov. 17. On Nov. 16, Temple will host Tulane, which went 7-6 last season and 5-3 in conference play. The two teams have not played each other since 2016. On Nov. 23, Temple heads to Cincinnati to play the Bearcats, who finished 11-2 last season.

ach Rod

COLLEE N CL AG Carey ru GETT / T ns drills HE TEMP at Gease LE NEWS y Field o n Aug. 1 3 2019.

The Owls will end the regular season on Nov. 30 against Connecticut. Temple and UConn played last season, with the Owls taking a 57-7 win on the road. If Temple wants to win The American, it can’t focus on how the other teams perform, Crump said. “I’ll try to focus more on us, and I’ll try to make sure that I keep our head on winning the championFOOTBALL PREVIEW | PAGE 22 temple-news.com