December 30, 2008 | Chicago Tribune
Many of the people who have resolved to lose weight in 2009 will turn to diet pills. They may see modest results, but they're no more likely to lose weight than those who choose diet and exercise alone. "There's no 'lose 20 pounds' pill. Any time you see one of those crazy claims, definitely question it,” said Amy Virus of Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education.
December 30, 2008 | USA Today
Given the tough economic times, many New Year's resolutions have a different tone. Some people hope to spend less; others want to simply become better people. According to Temple psychologist Frank Farley, this year's resolutions may be significantly less frivolous and more practical. People are focusing more on skill improvement and less on self-improvement, he says.
December 25, 2008-January 3, 2009 | Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Orlando Sentinel, Charlotte Observer, Hartford Courant
Undaunted by technology, young readers have become a hot market for e-book publishers. But children may learn less when they’re reading digital books. Temple psychologist Kathy Hirsh-Pasek studied parents who read e-books with their kids and found that young children don’t get as much meaning from what they’re reading when they’re distracted by technology. “We have to be careful that electronic media is not a substitute for hands-on,” Hirsh-Pasek said.
December 22-25, 2008 | Reuters, WHYY-FM, KYW News Radio
A new study suggests that women's perceptions of their bodies may impact their risk of excessive weight gain during pregnancy. Women with misperceptions about their pre-pregnancy weight were more likely to gain too many pregnancy pounds. "More work needs to be done to understand perceptions of weight among mothers at the start of pregnancy, and to determine if correcting misperception reduces the likelihood of excessive pregnancy weight gain," said lead researcher Sharon Herring of Temple's School of Medicine.
December 22, 2008 | Reuters
Chinese military vessels will sail to Africa on an anti-piracy mission -- a demonstration of China's desire to assert its influence abroad. The presence of Chinese warships in foreign waters is sure to fan nationalist flames in Japan, whose pacifist constitution frustrates its involvement in military operations abroad, said Phil Deans, professor of international relations at Temple University, Japan Campus. "But at the same time, you can say this is China showing that it wants to be part of the international community," said Deans. "So it's very much up to the way media or politicians choose to spin (it)."
December 21, 2008 | MSNBC
William Dunkelberg of Temple's Economics Department, chief economist at the National Federation of Independent Business, joined "Your Business" to discuss tips and advice for small, family-owned businesses in the current economic climate. Will things get better for small business owners in 2009? "I don't things can get worse," he said. "As we go through the year, we'll solve some of the problems that are slowing the economy. One of those, of course, is what's going with home building, and that's primarily a small business activity. So as that gets better, that will help the economy and the small business sector."
December 20, 2008 | Washington Post
Many companies are adopting "say-on-pay" policies to give shareholders the right to vote on executive compensation packages. Although these nonbinding votes can spark boardroom discussions, they don't always lead to reform. But it's that type of ambiguity that makes weighing in on say on pay a relatively easy call for Congress, said Steve Balsam, a professor at Temple's Fox School of Business. "It's a way for politicians to do something, or say they're doing something, about executive compensation without actually mandating anything," Balsam said in a page-one story in the Post's Business section. "It just sounds good."
December 19, 2008 | WHYY-FM
The last Dodge Durango rolled off a Chrysler assembly line in Delaware today. Some of the state's remaining 1,100 employees are taking transfers; others have accepted buyouts or early retirement packages. The same day, President Bush offered more than $17 billion in short term loans to the Big Three automakers. Temple economist William Dunkelberg believes the government should let the free market get the job done. "If you're not in bankruptcy court, then you don't have the stick you need to beat people into submission here and get things done," Dunkelberg said on a local "Morning Edition" segment.
December 19, 2008 | 6ABC
A holiday party for children in Grandma's Kids, a kinship support program run by Temple's Center for Intergenerational Learning, was held in Temple's Student Center. Grandma's kids provides a free after-school program for children who are not living with a biological parent.
December 19, 2008 | Chronicle of Higher Education
Chronicle writer Lawrence Biemiller toured the new Main Campus home of Temple's Tyler School of Art with Carlos Jimenez, the building's architect. "Among its features are a bright, two-story central corridor that will serve as a busy interior street and a grassy courtyard overlooked by a café," wrote Biemiller. "It has a sleek, no-frills main facade that Mr. Jimenez set back from the sidewalk and enlivened with windows, a big cantilever, and a sloping lawn to make the corner site attractive to students passing by, hanging out, relaxing, or eating lunch." The report includes five photos of the new facility, which is scheduled to open for classes in January 2009.
December 19, 2008 | Philadelphia Daily News
Plans are shaping up for the 14th annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service. Local events will be co-sponsored by Temple, the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Target, Comcast, the Daily News, the Inquirer and many other organizations. This year's "signature site" will be Temple's Liacouras Center, which will serve as a hub for hundreds of service projects and thousands of volunteers.
December 19, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
An old-fashioned nosegay -- a small bouquet of aromatic flowers -- makes a great holiday gift. "They used to strew herbs on the floor in the old manor houses to freshen the air. Nosegays were used similarly," says Eva Monheim, a horticulturist and senior lecturer at Temple University Ambler. In an adjacent article, Monheim -- described as "astonishingly fluent in 'the language of flowers'" -- offers tips about making nosegays.
December 19, 2008 | Japan Times
"Japan's ruling establishment hoped that John McCain, surrounded by "friends of Japan," would win the race to the White House," wrote Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies, in an op-ed. "Conservative commentators fear that President-elect Barack Obama will neglect Japan while paying too much attention to China. These concerns are unfounded."
December 19, 2008 | Chronicle of Higher Education
The slumping economy has rocked college endowments large and small, and Temple's is no exception. But wise investments and Temple's relatively modest endowment have shielded the university from some of the worst effects of the economy's downturn. Anthony Wagner, Temple's senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, explains some of the challenges that Temple and other universities have faced.
December 18, 2008 | 6ABC, CBS3, Fox29, WHYY-FM
Americans are dining out more than ever, a trend that experts believe is contributing to the obesity epidemic. Philadelphia now has a law that can help many people who eat out watch their weight. Starting Jan. 1, 2010, all restaurants with 15 or more locations nationwide will need to list the nutritional content of all the food on their menus. Obesity researchers say posting the information will have an effect on eating habits. "If you had calorie information when you were picking a 3-ounce muffin versus a 6-ounce muffin, you will make a different choice," said Gary Foster, director of Temple's Center for Obesity Research.
December 18, 2008 | Jewish Exponent
Michael Klein praised "prominent humanitarian" Jack L. Wolgin for his $3.7 million gift to the Tyler School of Art. The gift, the largest in Tyler's history, will endow the annual Wolgin International Prize in the Fine Arts. "It puts the school on even a more prominent global canvas," wrote Klein. "Color Temple very, very happy."
December 18, 2008 | Jewish Exponent
A recent study suggests that women prefer muscular men for casual relationships and softer men for long-term relationships. "What is important about [the study] is that, while it is fun to read, there are many other variables that go into why people are attracted to one other," commented David Baron, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Temple's School of Medicine.
December 18, 2008 | Associated Press, KYW News Radio
City officials held a ceremonial bill signing at Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education for Philadelphia's menu labeling law, which will take effect in 2010. The bill requires chain restaurants to display dietary information on their menus and menu boards. While it does allow for some exemptions, Gary Foster, director of CORE, said, "It's certainly better than the position that consumers are in now, where they have to back to a web site or have a walking encyclopedia of caloric information in their head."
December 18, 2008 | Reuters
A list of recommended business books for holiday gift-giving by Reuters business reporter Lisa Von Ahn included a recently republished volume by an old friend: "People still quote from Temple University founder Russell H. Conwell's Acres of Diamonds ($10), which advises readers to seek opportunity where they are right now."
December 17, 2008 | CN8
Getting through the holidays can be tough for many Americans; doing so during a time of great stress and uncertainty caused by a slumping economy can be even more difficult. Temple psychologist Frank Farley joined "It's Your Call with Lynn Doyle" to discuss ways to cope.
December 17, 2008 | Philadelphia Daily News
Renée Hobbs, director of Temple's Media Education Lab, moderated an Independent Film Chanel Media Project panel discussion on media coverage of crime and its impact on the community at the Independence Visitor Center.
December 17, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
When it comes to selecting holiday gifts, parents are faced with a difficult decision: How young is too young for electronics presents? Temple psychologist Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, co-author of A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool, says the cell phone presents a special challenge. "What might be convenient for parents might not be what's best for the child," she said. "How did we grow up? Are we a mess because we didn't talk to our mother 15 times a day? An adjacent story offered Hirsh-Pasek's advice for parents who are trying to decide when its appropriate to give children certain electronic toys.
December 17, 2008 | WHYY-FM
Your toddler's "terrible twos" could be masking a more serious developmental delay. The condition, regressive autistic spectrum disorder, refers to social and language skills a child once knew but starts losing somewhere around 18 - 24 months. "Children who were using five to 10 or 20 words and then lose the ability to express those words over a period of weeks or months -- that would be a cause for concern," said Gerry Stefanatos of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in Temple's College of Health Professions.
December 17, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
Temple University and Temple's Media Education Lab co-sponsored a forum in Philadelphia on media literacy and how crime is covered on television. Moderator Renée Hobbs, a professor of communications and media education at Temple, paused the discussion to ask the audience, many of whom were young media students, to ponder what the media often leave out of stories. "What doesn't make the news?" she asked. "Do journalists tend to polarize issues where there's a complex spectrum?...How is crime news constructed?"
December 16, 2008 | United Press International
Unmarried dads are less likely to drift away if they are involved with their partner during pregnancy, U.S. researchers suggest. Jay Fagan of Temple's School of Social Administration was part of a research team that analyzed data drawn from an ongoing project -- the Fragile Families Child Well Being Study -- which involved 1,686 couples, most of whom were not married. The researchers found that fathers involved during pregnancy were significantly more likely to remain involved in raising their child at age 3.
December 15, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia City Council has ordered chain restaurants in the city to display certain nutritional information in plain sight. "Curious about a Whopper from Burger King or the broccoli-cheese soup from Friday's?" writes Michael Klein on the Inquirer's "The Insider" blog. "You'll be able to see the calorie content, in all its glory, after Council passed the bill in November." Mayor Nutter will be at Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education on Thursday for the bill's signing.
December 16, 2008 | WHYY-FM
The economy is in a tailspin, but the Philadelphia Orchestra, museums and other local arts and culture institutions are reporting strong ticket sales. Eric Eisenstein of the Marketing Department at Temple's Fox School of Business says the arts are a bargain compared to vacations abroad and other holiday entertainment options. "People still need something to do with their time," he said on a local "Morning Edition" report. After all, Eisenstein said, "there were a couple hundred pictures produced in the Great Depression."
December 15, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
Robert Levis, professor and chair of Temple's Chemistry Department, and colleague David Dalton, have created an innovative GenEd course that teaches the fundamentals of chemistry in a nontraditional way: by teaching students about the production of wine. Levis and Dalton want students enrolled in "The Chemistry of Wine" to grasp the why and how of science -- to ask their own critical questions and devise a way to find answers. And if the students were attracted to the course by its nontraditional topic, that's OK. "The price for that is they have to learn the chemistry behind it," Levis says. (The online version of this "Health & Science" section front-page article includes a picture gallery.)
December 15, 2008 | Los Angeles Times
"With all this bad economic news, we're starting to hear a chorus of voices preaching the cultural benefits of financial crises," writes LA Times columnist Gregory Rodriguez. "[Temple English and American Studies Professor Miles Orvell] even has pointed to all the great literature produced during the 1930s: James Agee, Nathanael West, Henry Roth. The list goes on. 'If it's true that adversity can bring out creativity," Orvell said recently, "then the Great Depression was one of the great creative periods of our time.'"
December 15, 2008 | WHYY-FM
Jurors hear closing statements today in the trial of five men charged with plotting to attack soldiers at Fort Dix. The volume of evidence presented to the jury may present a problem for the government. "This has been a long trial," said Edward Ohlbaum of Temple's Beasley School of Law on "Morning Edition." "[The jury has] been given everything that they have -- hours and hours and hours of [recorded] conversation [by the defendants] -- and some jurors may ask, 'Why aren't we hearing anything specific about Fort Dix.'"
December 14, 2008 | New York Daily News, ESPN.com
"Temple University has decided to market its 6-5 senior guard Dionte Christmas for All-American with a 'Five Months of Christmas' campaign," wrote Daily News columnist Dick Weiss. "Enthusiastic students at the Liacouras Center have bought right in, wearing hundreds of Santa caps and chanting, 'Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas' on Saturday when the Owls stunned eighth-ranked Tennessee, 88-72, in a game that did wonders for the upgraded profile of the Atlantic 10." For his 35-point effort against the Volunteers, ESPN.com basketball analyst Andy Katz named Christmas the national "Player of the Week."
December 14, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
More than 8,000 Philadelphia real estate owners are beneficiaries of the city's ambitious property-tax abatement program, the most generous of its kind in the nation. Temple's David Bartelt, a professor in the Department of Geography and Urban Studies, explained the program's origins in the 1990s, when Philadelphia's real estate market was in bad shape. "Given the depths to which we had descended, we needed something dramatic, universal and simple," said Bartelt.
December 14, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
While Philadelphia plans to shut 11 libraries, some libraries in South Jersey are preparing for a growth spurt. Directors are weeding their collections, rethinking floor plans and retrofitting buildings to meet future needs. No longer just "book warehouses," libraries now require modern technology and wiring for patrons' electronic tools, said Steven Bell, associate Temple University librarian for research and instructional services. "Libraries need to be much more multi-functional," he said.
December 13-15, 2008 | Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Columbus Dispatch
After an economic boom in the 1980s, Japan's economy crashed. The world's second largest economy then entered a long period of stagnation. Many experts see troubling similarities between Japan's economy in the 1990s and the current crisis in the United States. "A lot more people in the United States are vulnerable and exposed [than in Japan in the 1990s]," said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University, Japan Campus. "Just flooding the market with cheap liquidity is not going to address the feeling of insecurity that most people have."
December 13, 2008 | The Telegraph (U.K.)
Japan's Emperor Akihito was groomed to embody Japan's new, Western-style constitutional monarchy. But the real power at the palace is in the hands of the Imperial Household Agency, a 1,200-strong secretariat, ferocious in its allegiance to the traditional model and contemptuous of reform. "They are a set of bureaucrats," says Jeffrey Kingston of Temple University, Japan Campus, "whose job is to keep the family on a tight rein, and ensure that the members live according to the agency's dictates."
December 13, 2008 | United Press International
Some childhood tantrums may be a sign of more than just the "terrible twos," says Gerry Stefanatos of Temple’s College of Health Professions. If accompanied by developmental setbacks, it could be regressive autistic spectrum disorder (RASD). Children with RASD develop normally until about 18-24 months, then lose previously acquired language skills and social abilities. "If you have suspicions, go and see a pediatrician and explain what you're seeing in your child,” Stefanatos said.
December 12, 2008 | The Intelligencer (Bucks and Montgomery counties)
Christina Thatcher, a senior in Temple's College of Education, recently became one of only 40 college students nationwide to win a prestigious Marshall Scholarship. The program fully funds one to three years of graduate study at a university in the United Kingdom. Thatcher's long-term goal is to get English teachers in the United States to include more creative writing into their curricula. "One of the primary reasons I'm doing my master's program in the U! .K! . is because they do incorporate creative writing with their curricula," she said. "Writing creatively gives students a voice that no other writing can. I think it's crucial that the U.S. adopt that to its curriculum, as well."
December 12, 2008 | Philadelphia Business Journal
The economic downturn has caused Philadelphia's largest law firms to reduce 2009 summer associate hiring. Melissa Lennon, assistant dean for career planning at Temple's Beasley School of Law, said there was a trickle-down effect. "Almost every firm has a smaller program. As the season evolved, the economy got worse," Lennon said. "I think some firms started the process thinking they would hire 18 to 20 people but as it progressed, that number dropped." Because fewer students will be working at the larger firms, Temple Law has been aggressive in pursuing the smaller firm market as well as government and public interest jobs.
December 2008 | Metropolitan Corporate Counsel
JoAnne Epps, dean of Temple's Beasley School of Law, shared her thoughts about Temple Law in an interview. "Several things make [Temple Law] different," Epps said. "One, we were out front very early in developing an advocacy curriculum for our students….Temple was one of the first law schools to recognize the importance of global issues, and we have had a great deal of success in a variety of international initiatives. In addition, we have a significant focus on public interest law."
December 11-12, 2008 | Artforum, ARTINFO
Jack L. Wolgin, the man responsible for commissioning Claes Oldenburg's "Clothespin" sculpture in Philadelphia, has endowed an arts prize that will be the world's largest annual prize awarded exclusively to individual fine artist. The annual $150,000 juried award, to be known as the Wolgin International Prize in the Fine Arts, will be administered by Temple's Tyler School of Art, which is soon to relocate from the suburbs to a new $75 million facility on Temple's Main Campus in Philadelphia.
December 11, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer, Associated Press, Chronicle of Higher Education, WHYY-FM, 6ABC, many more
Philadelphia developer and philanthropist Jack Wolgin has donated $3.7 million to Temple's Tyler School of Art -- the largest gift in the school's history -- to endow the $150,000 Wolgin International Prize in the Fine Arts, the world's largest prize awarded annually to an individual fine artist. The work of winning artists will be exhibited at Tyler's new, $75 million facility on Temple's Main Campus in Philadelphia. "Jack Wolgin has always been a bold thinker with a reputation for pushing boundaries," said Therese Dolan, Tyler's interim dean. "It's very momentous for Philadelphia and especially for Temple University."
December 11, 2008 | Philadelphia Daily News
Columnist Kimberly Garrison describes Ala Stanford Frey, director of the School of Medicine's Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities, as "superwoman." The first African-American female pediatric surgeon trained in the U.S., Frey knows that many Philadelphians are suffering disproportionately from preventable and treatable diseases. "The purpose of the Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities is to improve the access of care to the people of North Philadelphia and work toward eliminating health disparities through educational programming, mentoring and translational research," said Frey.
December 11, 2008 | Wall Street Journal
Is the adult criminal justice system a place for very young children? Many researchers question whether children can even form criminal intent, a key component of a murder charge. The system too often focuses on whether children know right from wrong, rather than whether they can control their behavior, says Temple psychologist Laurence Steinberg, co-author of Reinventing Juvenile Justice. "What really is the point" of charging an eight-year-old, he says. "The prosecutor is trying to send a message to second-graders all over?"
December 11, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
What parts of Greater Philadelphia have the most jobs, the most employers and the highest annual earnings? What sections experienced the greatest change in employment and earnings last year? An entire page (J7) in the Inquirer's special "Econ Outlook 2009" section was devoted to detailed maps of Greater Philadelphia's economic health created by Temple's Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project (MPIP). Using an online version of an MPIP map, readers can view economic data in their area.
December 11, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
With sales-tax receipts and jobs surprisingly stable -- or at least not dropping precipitously -- Philadelphia seems to be weathering the economic storm better than many other American cities. "The one thing that people notice is that Philadelphia is a little more reactive and adaptive than its reputation as an old manufacturing center would make it seem," said Temple's David Bartelt, a professor of geography and urban studies. "We have a complex economy that survives booms and busts better than other areas."
December 11, 2008 | Reuters
Japan, China and South Korea will make a symbolic show of unity in battling fallout from the global financial crisis at a high-profile summit. With all three economies dependent on the United States, where demand for their exports is falling, the summit's achievements may well prove more symbolic than substantive. "Obviously, the top of everybody's agenda is the financial crisis, but it's not clear what the three countries are able to do about it," said Phil Deans of Temple University, Japan Campus. "Everyone is really looking to Washington to see what happens."
December 11, 2008 | CBS3
A freedom of speech case involving a high school student who created a MySpace page mocking his principal is heading to federal court. "It's still a pretty murky area of the law," said Professor Mark Rahdert, a constitutional law expert at Temple's Beasley School of Law. "The problem here is the activity is occurring outside the school, off premises and after hours….It's going to be a difficult call how far the school's authority can extend outside school property."
December 11, 2008 | Inter Press Service (Italy)
Six-party talks are currently underway in Beijing to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. Japan insists on using the talks as a vehicle to resolve the abduction of its citizens by North Korea during the cold war. According to Robert Dujarric of Temple University, Japan Campus, the main worry for Tokyo -- apart from missiles and nuclear weapons -- is Chinese influence on the peninsula. The abductees are a domestic issue in Japan, but not a real cause for strategic concern, he said.
December 10, 2008 | NPR's "All Things Considered"
In Las Vegas, the odds of dying by suicide are twice as high as in the rest of the country. Temple sociologist Matt Wray used to live in Las Vegas, and says he was struck by the city's historically high suicide rate of about one suicide per day. Wray and colleagues from Harvard looked at 40 million death records spanning 30 years. "Residents of Las Vegas who leave Las Vegas -- that is, they take some kind of hiatus or break from Las Vegas, they go out of the county -- their risk for suicide goes down," he said. (This report also aired on a local segment of "Morning Edition.")
December 2008 | Scientific American
By reducing fuel viscosity, electric fields can boost a car's gas mileage by up to 20 percent. Reduced viscosity means that smaller droplets can be injected into the engine, leading to more efficient combustion. Temple investigators led by physicist Rongjia Tao thinned fuel by attaching an electrically charged tube to a diesel engine's fuel line near the fuel injector. In road tests, the attachment increased highway fuel economy from 32 to 38 miles per gallon.
December 10, 2008 | NBC10
For some two-year-olds, tantrums and mood swings can be a sign of more than just the "terrible twos." Research by Gerry Stefanatos of Temple's Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders suggests that for some children, naughty behavior may be a sign of autism -- particularly when accompanied by developmental setbacks. "One of the more obvious cues for parents is if the child no longer responds to his or her own name. Often times this is accompanied by deterioration in behavior. The child can become irritable, prone to tantrums," said Stefanatos.
December 10, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
Stephen A. Cozen and Temple Trustee Patrick J. O'Connor of the law firm Cozen O'Connor received Temple University's Fox School of Business 12th annual Musser Excellence in Leadership Award at a reception held Nov. 19 at Temple's Mitten Hall. The event for 450 guests raised $500,000 for the Dean's Undergraduate Research Scholars program.
December 9-10, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle, Seattle Times, Baltimore Sun, International Herald Tribune, many more
Greenpeace activists have been risking life and limb to save whales from Japanese hunters, but their efforts have received largely negative press in Japan and have failed to slow the nation's annual whale hunt. So Greenpeace is trying a softer approach in Japan, conducting brief and silent protests. "Compared to the US and Western Europe, Japan is less tolerant of deviant behavior. Anything that's a little out of the ordinary is a little bit disturbing," said Robert Dujarric of Temple University, Japan Campus, in a widely distributed Associated Press story.
December 9, 2008 | WHYY
In response to concerns about Mayor Nutter's budget cuts, a blog called "Feelin' the Cuts" has been created by local youths and Temple students participating in Leadership Corps, part of Temple's University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia, directed by political scientist Barbara Ferman. The blog includes interviews with a former mayoral candidate, the homecoming king and queen of South Philly High and many others.
December 9, 2008 | El Nuevo Día (Puerto Rico)
For 104 days, four Puerto Rican men have been held without charges in a Shanghai detention center for foreigners. "Chinese officials do not have the human resources, the economic, nor the conscience to respect the process. And if the dictatorial government states you cannot release anyone, then no one is released," said John Smagula, an expert in the Chinese judicial system at Temple's Beasley School of Law.
December 9, 2008 | USA Today
Anxiety about finances is making it hard for parents to get into the holiday spirit. An American Psychological Association poll found that about half of parents surveyed worried that they wouldn’t have enough money for gifts for their kids. But a child's happiness does not hinge on glitzy gifts, says child psychologist Ronald Brown, dean of Temple's College of Health Professions. "Look at all the kids who have tons of things but parents who aren't there for them. They don't do well. What children want to know is, 'Am I loved?' and 'Are we going to be together?' That's what really matters to them."
December 9, 2008 | Wall Street Journal
Fights among parents at the popular family pizza and entertainment chain Chuck E. Cheese's are becoming increasingly common. The environment seems to bring out what security experts call the "mama-bear instinct." Stepping in when a parent perceives that a child is being threatened "is part of protective parenting," says Temple psychologist Frank Farley, a former president of the American Psychological Association. "It is part of the species -- all species, in fact -- in the animal kingdom," he says. "We do it all of the time."
December 8, 2008 | NBC10
Ever feel like you're still connected to your phone even after you’ve taken if off your hip or put it down? There's a name for that feeling: phantom phone vibration. It happens to users of devices, like the BlackBerry, who swear they feel vibrations where they wear the device even when it’s not there. David Baron, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Temple's School of Medicine, says constant vibration triggers the sensation even when it's not happening. "It's just one of those wonderful marvelous things about our complicated brains," said Baron."
December 8, 2008 | U.S.News & World Report
Online retirement calculators can give consumers erratic results. But experts agree that they do serve a useful purpose: They get people thinking about their future. Jack VanDerhei of Temple's Fox School of Business says that users seeking accurate results should assume they'll live a long time. If you don't put in a life expectancy, calculators often will assume you'll live to 85. VanDerhei says many retirees will live longer, thus needing more savings. (This report appears in the Oct. 15 print edition.)
December 8, 2008 | KYW News Radio
Child psychologists and pediatricians agree: Toys don't have to cost a fortune to be fun. "What's best for our children isn't necessarily what's most expensive," said Kathy Hirsh-Pasek of Temple's Department of Psychology. "It can be those toys that we all enjoyed before. We can add a little electronics -- that's fine. As long as the children are in control." Hirsh-Pasek recommends inexpensive, old-school toys such as crayons, paper, construction kits, beads to make jewelry, balls and board games.
December 8, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
Officials expect several million people to attend the presidential inauguration on the National Mall, creating what may be the largest gathering in one place at one time. "I haven't found anything that big," said Temple School of Tourism and Hospitality instructor Ira Rosen, who studies crowds. Inauguration planners say they'll place giant TV screens on the Mall so people can see and hear what they're there for. Security will be strict. "It's going to be like a major military maneuver," says School of Tourism Professor Michael Jackson.
December 8, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
In a dozen cases since 2001, federal judges in Washington have used increasingly caustic language to throw out EPA regulations, chastising the Bush administration for illegally changing U.S. environmental rules. The result: The EPA's most significant new air-pollution initiatives lie in tatters. Environmental law expert Amy Sinden of Temple's Beasley School of Law said that the EPA has become "transparently political" under Bush. "That's why EPA has had the kind of record it's had in the courts."
December 8, 2008 | KYW News Radio
Good news for parents on a tight budget this holiday season: Toys don't have to be expensive to be fun. Go back to the basics, recommends Temple psychologist Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, and forget the latest electronics. "We can build so many things when we just have a good set of construction toys, artistic toys where we're building things or making things from paints, from crayons, from jewelry," Hirsh-Pasek said.
December 8, 2008 | CN8
Some diseases afflict certain ethnic and racial groups more than others. Raul de la Cadeña of the Temple School of Medicine's Center for Minority Health Disparities joined "Art Fennel Reports" to discuss the center's role in the fight to eliminate health disparities. "The dean of the School of Medicine, John Daly, established this center four years ago," said de la Cadeña. "Our theme is to improve access to care and improve trust in the community by effective communication. That includes minority health education and working with the community by having them participate in clinical trials."
December 8, 2008 | Bloomberg
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's declining popularity has boosted the opposition Democratic Party of Japan ahead of elections required by September 2009. Thirty-six percent of respondents in the Yomiuri survey said they would prefer DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa as prime minister compared with 29 percent who chose the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). "Having Aso lead the LDP into elections would be disastrous," said Jeffrey Kingston of Temple University, Japan Campus.
December 8, 2008 | eSchool News
Hoping to clear up the confusion over the "fair use" of digital materials in teaching and learning, media literacy expert Renée Hobbs of Temple's School of Communications and Theater and her colleagues have developed a "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education." The document clarifies how fair use applies to the most common situations where media-literacy educators make use of copyrighted materials in their work.
December 7, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
Pennsylvania consumers may be cutting back on some purchases, but they haven't scaled back their gambling. Temple psychologist Frank Farley, who has done research on human behavior, risk-taking and thrill-seeking, said a bad economy could spur some people toward gambling for the wrong reasons. "Why not try your hand at gambling, because things are bad anyway and you might strike it rich," Farley said. "All it takes is a few jackpots, and it keeps people coming back."
December 7, 2008 | Philadelphia Weekly
Painter Angela Crafton has returned to a Philadelphia jail where she once was incarcerated herself -- this time to teach art to inmates. She had been enrolled in Temple criminal justice instructor Lori Pompa’s innovative Inside-Out program, which brings university students into prisons to take classes alongside inmates. Pompa remembers her first encounter with Crafton. "It was amazing to see how gifted she was," Pompa recalls. "It was the most powerful moment in my teaching career."
December 7, 2008 | Asian News International
The Great Depression gave birth to great books, plays, films and other creative works, according Miles Orvell, a professor of English and American studies at Temple. "If it's true that adversity and hardship can bring out creativity then the Great Depression was one of the great creative periods of our time," said Orvell. "The period also birthed several new genres, such as the melodrama, which laid the foundation for today's soap opera, and it brought the detective novel to fulfillment."
December 6, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
An Inquirer editorial explored a recent report on Pennsylvania's parole system by Temple Criminal Justice Professor John S. Goldkamp, a renowned incarceration expert. "A top-to-bottom review of Pennsylvania's parole system ordered by Gov. Rendell after a police murder concluded that the procedures for releasing violent offenders are pretty sound and safe….Goldkamp's report should be a blueprint to help Pennsylvania make desperately needed changes in the prisons to rehabilitate inmates and protect society."
December 6, 2008 | ABCNews.com
In a commentary piece, Temple mathematician John Allen Paulos describes The Numerati, a new book by Business Week columnist Stephen Baker. "With gee-whiz enthusiasm, he tells a number of fascinating stories about ever cheaper, ever more powerful computer chips and the tools and techniques they make possible -- tools and techniques that will increasingly and dramatically affect nearly every area of our lives," wrote Paulos.
December 5, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
Almost 30,000 job cuts have been announced since Monday. Temple sociologist David Elesh noted the attention the media is giving to smaller layoffs -- something that would not even have merited a sentence three years ago, he said. The numbers, Elesh says, merit notice because of their cumulative effect. "It's the continuing chorus of such announcements that has such an impact," he said. "In the present economic context, they are a harbinger of larger trends."
December 5, 2008 | Metropolis (Japan)
According to Kathleen Pike, a professor of psychology at Temple University, Japan Campus, 3 percent of college students in Japan suffer from bulimia and nearly 1 percent have anorexia. Being a foreigner in Japan can act as a trigger. "Members of the foreign community are typically larger than the Japanese,” says Pike. When they come here, "they sometimes find they can't buy clothes -- going to a store only to find they are too big.'"
December 4, 2008 | The Economist
Attacks launched over the internet on Estonia and Georgia highlight the difficulty of defining and dealing with "cyberwar." The discussion of cyberattacks is complicated by widespread disagreement over how to define the term. "Translation problems" arise when trying to apply existing international rules relating to terrorism and warfare to online attacks, says international law expert Duncan Hollis of Temple's Beasley School of Law. Hollis proposes a new "international law for information operations" to alleviate the uncertainty.
December 4, 2008 | KUOW-FM (Seattle)
Is your personality suited for economic hard times? Temple psychologist Frank Farley joined the set of "The Conversation" at Seattle's NPR station, KUOW, to discuss people who thrive when things get tough. "There's a personality type called 'Type T," which stands for thrill-seeking, risk-taking, excitement-seeking, stimulation-seeking. It's a personality type which can thrive on uncertainty," said Farley. "They're not afraid of it; they're not going to panic."
December 4, 2008 | USA Today
How have you reacted to the economic downturn? Are you paralyzed by fear or have you been plotting new life strategies? Your reaction during tough times is shaped by your personality, researchers say. Some personality types appear to thrive amid flux, says Temple psychologist Frank Farley. He suggests that "Type T" personalities -- thrill seekers who believe they control their own fate -- may view economic uncertainty as "an opportunity." Readers can take an online quiz to see if they meet Farley's definition of a "Type T" personality.
December 4, 2008 | Christian Science Monitor
CSM's "Chapter & Verse" blog asks: Would an economic catastrophe make us more creative? "Adversity and hardship can bring out creativity," argues Temple's Miles Orvell, professor of English and American studies -- especially when considering the remarkable literature, films and plays sparked by the Great Depression. To support his case, Orvell recommends six great Depression-era works.
December 4, 2008 | TheStreet.com
Jonathan Scott, associate professor of finance at Temple's Fox School of Business, says that to get credit markets flowing again, the government will have to provide incentives for banks to start selling their bad mortgage debt, and for buyers to re-emerge. He suggests guaranteeing the troubled assets while charging a fee to the banks that hold them. "Something is going to have to happen here to trigger those sales," he said. "And the policy initiatives that have been suggested to date haven't done it."
December 3, 2008 | Associated Press
A new study found that older people who are depressed are more likely to develop a type of internal body fat that can lead to diabetes and heart disease. David Baron of Temple's School of Medicine praised the study, although he wanted to know more about the participants' family history of obesity. The connection between brain and body makes sense, he said. "Depression is a physical illness," Baron said. "Maybe we should be even more aggressive in treating depression in this age group, whether through medication or talk therapy."
December 3, 2008 | CNN.com
Millions of Americans suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a condition that generates depression during the darker months of autumn and winter. A recent study links the condition to a genetic mutation in the eye. The study's results make sense to David Baron, chair of the Temple School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science. The study is "consistent with the literature on understanding genetics in vulnerability to illness," he said.
December 3, 2008 | CBS3
With the economy in recession, parents may be struggling to explain to their children why their may be fewer holiday gifts this year. Being honest to your children about money is important. "The important thing is that you follow family traditions, that you be realistic, that you teach children how to budget…Tell your pre-teen or teenager that this has been a tough time, there are limited resources," said Ronald T. Brown, child psychologist and dean of Temple's College of Health Professions.
December 3, 2008 | Philadelphia Inquirer
For readers who are looking for a new and exciting book group experience, Temple offers an intriguing non-credit course at the university's Center City and Fort Washington locations. Students enrolled in "A Sneak Peek at Next Year's Bestsellers," taught by Lynn Rosen, get to read pre-publication copies of unreleased books. "We talk about what reviewers might say and how readers might react," says Rosen. "In many cases, I can interview the authors and answer students' questions about why the writer took a particular approach."
December 3, 2008 | WHYY-FM
Governors from around the nation met in Philadelphia this week. During tough economic times, what kind of help can governors reasonably expect from President Obama and the federal government? On a local "Morning Edition" segment, Temple presidential historian James Hilty described ambitious federal projects going back to the New Deal. Much, said Hilty, will depend on the will of the Democratic majority in Congress.
December 2, 2008 | 6ABC, CBS3
Students and faculty members held a candlelight memorial service in front of Paley Library at Temple's Main Campus for the victims of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
December 2, 2008 | WHYY-FM's "Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane"
Same-sex marriage proponents suffered a blow on election day when bans were passed in Arizona, Florida and California. Gary Mucciaroni, chair of Political Science at Temple and author of Same Sex, Different Politics, discussed the growing debate within the gay community as to what the next step should be in the battle to extend the right to marry to gay couples.
December 2, 2008 | Business Week, Forbes, MSN Money, Boston Globe, Seattle Times, many more
A federal jury cleared Chevron of responsibility for human rights abuses during a protest in Nigeria a decade ago. Human rights groups had hoped the case would be the first successful use at trial of the Alien Tort Claims Act, which has been gathering dust for nearly 200 years. "It could become a major way for communities to hold companies accountable for their actions overseas," Lisa Calvano of Temple's Fox School of Business said in an AP story. "There is very little now to hold multinationals accountable for overseas actions."
December 2, 2008 | WHYY-FM
Despite economic hard times, Philadelphia's top non-profit arts and culture institutions are having few problems attracting CEOs. But CEO searches can be challenging for small non-profits. "Smaller organizations can be stuck because they can't afford to do an outside search," said Robert D. Hamilton III of Temple's Fox School of Business. "As a result, if they're small, it may keep them small. And if they're in trouble, and decide to avoid the executive search, that may create a downward cycle."
December 2, 2008 | Associated Press, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, KYW News Radio, many more
Gov. Ed Rendell lifted a moratorium on paroling Pennsylvania's violent offenders after a consultant concluded that the state's current procedures for evaluating and supervising them are largely safe and effective. But the review by John Goldkamp, chair of Temple's Department of Criminal Justice and a nationally recognized expert on incarceration, also said the state's parole system must do a better job of identifying violent offenders who pose the greatest threat to public safety.
December 1, 2008 | Wall Street Journal
Recent research suggests that seniors with depression are twice as likely as non-depressed people to gain dangerous visceral fat -- the kind that blankets internal organs and raises the risk for heart disease and diabetes. David Baron, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Temple's School of Medicine, said he’d like to hear more about the participants’ family history of obesity, but offered praise for the study. “Depression is a physical illness," Baron said. "Maybe we should be even more aggressive in treating depression in this age group, whether through medication or talk therapy."
December 1, 2008 | MSNBC.com
Columnist Bryn Nelson describes a recent fuel-saving invention by Temple physicist Rongjia Tao and his collaborators. The device, which can be attached to the fuel line of a vehicle's engine near the fuel injector, creates an electric field that reduces fuel viscosity. Less viscosity means increased combustion efficiency. More efficient combustion means more fuel economy and less air pollution.
December 1, 2008 | WHYY-FM
The U.S. Small Business Administration joined experts -- including Eustace Kangaju, director of the Small Business Development Center at Temple's Fox School of Business -- to offer local small business owners tips on surviving the shaky economy. "The important thing is to get noticed," said Kangaju, who said that small businesses must keep advertising.
December 1, 2008 | Reuters
Approval ratings for Taro Aso, prime minister of Japan, are sliding as he struggles to keep his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from unraveling. Will the LDP replace Aso ahead of an election, or will he stay on? "I think nobody wants to replace him because leading the LDP into the next election means taking responsibility for a drubbing and I don't see anyone champing at the bit to lead the LDP into a bloodbath," said Jeffrey Kingston of Temple University, Japan Campus.
December 1, 2008 | San Francisco Chronicle
President-elect Barack Obama is likely to focus on getting several international treaties signed, including the Law of the Sea treaty. The treaty includes protections for nations' coastal waters and guidelines for commercial use of international waters. Military and business leaders, environmental groups and the Bush administration support it, but conservative Republicans have kept if off the Senate floor. "This is the one that may be the highest priority," said Duncan Hollis of Temple's Beasley School of Law.
November In the Media ... |
