August 31-September 1, 2009 | Reuters, Bloomberg
New drugs to prevent blood clots will shake up the market but pharmaceutical companies face an uphill fight on price. Cost will be key for both AstraZeneca's Brilinta and Boehringer Ingelheim's Pradaxa as they jostle for sales against generics and rival treatments. Boehringer hopes for pricing headroom, given its new drug's superior profile to warfarin and the fact it does away with the need for expensive blood monitoring. Payers, however, are likely to take a long look at Pradaxa. "It's going to be a battle," said cardiologist Alfred Bove of Temple's School of Medicine. "I can tell you we are going to be on the phone frequently trying to justify that drug."
August 31, 2009 | WHYY-FM
(There is no link to this report.)
Philadelphia's new Board of Ethics has ruffled feathers by enforcing rules that make the city's old political machine more transparent. "The old ward-based and patronage-based system had a more tolerant attitude toward what was permissible in politics," said Joseph McLaughlin, director of Temple's Institute of Public Affairs. "In the early '70s, during the Watergate investigations, we as a society became more concerned about political corruption and the federal government became interested in prosecuting state and local corruption."
August 31, 2009 | Agence France-Presse
Crushed in a historic election rout, its old guard leadership in disarray, Japan's long-ruling conservative party on Monday faced up to the unaccustomed role of life in opposition. "They've always existed in symbiosis with the government and the bureaucracy," said Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies at Temple University, Japan Campus. "How do they survive without these ties and without the funding that comes from being in power?"
August 31, 2009 | Cape May County Herald
Cape May Mayor Edward J. Mahaney Jr. told the city's Tourism Commission the city needs to create and implement a long-range master plan for the marketing and promotion of Cape May. The city has signed an agreement with Temple's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management to manage Cape May's future Convention Hall and coordinate tourism promotion for the seaside town. Mahaney said Temple students would be in Cape May providing fresh ideas.
August 30, 2009 | FOX29
(There is no link to this report.)
Temple hosted its convocation today to kick off the next four years for the university’s incoming freshman class. After the speeches, they celebrated with a 100 foot long banana split.
August 30, 2009 | CNBC, Xinhua
(There is no link to this report.)
Professor Jeff Kingston of Temple University, Japan Campus, joined CNBC Asia's "Squawk Box" to discuss possible changes to Japan's foreign policy in the wake of the historic election defeat of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party "I think we can't focus too much on campaign rhetoric," he said. New Japanese Prime Minister Hatayama's Democratic Party of Japan has been "zigzagging and backtracking on some of their more controversial proposals," Kingston said. "I expect that once they gain power, they're going to move to the middle"
August 31, 2009 | NBC10, myPhl17
(There is no link to this story.)
Last night Temple welcomed incoming freshmen by making a 100-foot banana split with all the fixings, right down to the whipped cream and cherries. This was one last party before classes begin today.
August 31, 2009 | KYW News Radio
An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure, so officials at Temple's Student Health Services are taking every precaution regarding H1N1 (or swine flu). "The guidelines are really simple," says Zahra Tavakoli of Student Health Services. "Wash your hands. Don't touch your hands, your mouth, and your nose. Carry hand sanitizers. If you have a fever, isolate yourself. You're always more than welcome to come to the doctor's office." Student Health Services Assistant Director Mark Denys says the health center will also have 500 flu kits available to students.
August 30, 2009 | "NPR's "Weekend Edition," Reuters, Xinhua, Bloomberg, Foreign Policy, many more
After more than half a century in power, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been ousted by the voters. "The really interesting aspect of these elections, if you look at the polls, is that voters are voting for change they don’t believe in and for a leader they’re not all that keen on," said Jeff Kingston of Temple University, Japan Campus. "It’s because the misery index is soaring….bankruptcies, foreclosures, unemployment are up. People are feeling the pain."
August 27, 2009 | 6ABC, CBS3, KYW Newsradio
Members of Temple University's highest ever SATs class moved in today. Now I'm on my own said one freshman. It's all about being responsible and mature about things, explained the neuroscience major and future doctor. Nearly 7,000 new undergraduates are joining Temple this fall. The Class of 2013 is the most highly qualified in Temple's history.
August 27, 2009 | Yahoo Finance
While all eyes are on how many summer associates will receive offers from their respective firms, law school career counselors are hearing some firms anticipate taking longer with their decisions. Normally, this would be the time to track offer rates, Melissa Lennon, assistant dean for career planning at the School of Law, said. But 2009 is not normal. Of the 20 or so firms she is tracking in and around the area, Lennon said, only four have given offers so far. Large law firms typically want to give offers to summer associates as quickly as they can, she said, because they then have to begin recruiting on campus for next summer's class. They want the students who received offers in the summer to act as advocates during the fall recruiting season, Lennon said.
August 27, 2009 | Financial Times, Voice of America
More than half a century of all but uncontested political leadership in Japan appears set to end this weekend, as voters elect new parliamentary representatives. 480 lower house seats are at stake in Sunday's vote. Some political experts have predicted the DPJ may capture as many as 300 of those, giving it a resounding mandate in both the upper and lower house. The LDP has controlled Japan's parliament almost without interruption for 55 years. Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple Japan, says the DPJ lead does not indicate the party has swept voters off their feet. "Clearly this is not a vote for the DPJ," he said. "It's a vote against the LDP. People are fed up."
August 27, 2009 | Philadelphia Tribune
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is explored in university photographer Ryan Brandenberg's self-published book, Roots Run Deep Here: Returning to New Orleans Ninth Ward After Katrina. In the four years since Hurricane Katrina's devastating floodwaters receded, an increasing number of residents have returned to the Ninth Ward. Moved by their resolve and eager to understand their motivations, Brandenberg began documenting the stories of a determined few who, initially displaced to locations around the country, refused to be cast out.
August 27, 2009 | Philadelphia Inquirer
A recently released study has found that about 4 million Americans are being hit with more radiation than they really need. Some experts believe it’s because doctors rarely discuss the issue of radiation, and patients rarely ask about it. Robert Steiner, a Temple University radiologist, serves on an expert committee that is now developing guidelines for appropriate use of cardiac-imaging technologies - the problem is, the technology has evolved faster than studies supporting its use. "We don't really know how successful any of these technologies are at prolonging life," Steiner said. "All of us are looking very closely at ways of cutting the dose."
August 27, 2009 | Los Angeles Times
Former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda faces the political battle of his life to win reelection to the lower house of the Diet, Japan's parliament. His biggest hurdle does not appear to be his opponent, a former television reporter and political novice, but voter discontent. "The Japanese are ready to give the LDP a well-deserved sayonara," said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University, Japan. "Everyone thinks they are dead-enders with no fresh ideas and no creative policies. The misery index is soaring, unemployment and suicides are up, wages and bonuses are down, and everyone is feeling insecure about their jobs and futures."
August 27, 2009 | Associated Press
As Japan heads into crucial elections on Sunday, Hatoyama widely leads Prime Minister Taro Aso as the person most voters want as their leader, according to several media polls. The 62-year-old former engineer is an unlikely figure to bring about major political change. "He is a miserable candidate," said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University, Japan. "He is wooden, he is stiff, he can't improvise. His image is that he is not a very decisive leader, somebody who's not so charismatic, not so strong willed."
August 27, 2009 | Christian Science Monitor
President Obama’s science advisors have said that the possible deaths from a potential swine flu outbreak could total more than 90,000. But where did they get that number? And is it accurate? It’s based on complicated models of how such illnesses are transmitted, how they mutate, how prepared the healthcare system is, and what's known from the patterns of past flu epidemics. The problem with such warnings is that the complacency scientists are in part trying to break may be caused by the very studies they tout – the crying wolf syndrome. "Scientists walk a very fine line in how much information do we give: How much do we want to make people aware versus how much do we want to downplay it?" says Sarah Bass, an expert in health-risk communication at Temple University in Philadelphia.
August 27, 2009 | NBC10
(There is no link to this report.)
Kathya Zinszer, chair of the department of medicine and orthopedics at Temple University’s School of Podiatric Medicine, was a guest on the 10! Show to discuss the importance of diabetes prevention and awareness, and to promote the American Diabetes Associations’ Step Out Walk to Fight Diabetes, in which more than 200 Temple podiatry students will participate this year.
August 25, 2009 | CBS3
Fever reducing medications and a mask are some of what students at Temple University can expect to get at the health clinic if they have symptoms of swine flu this fall. "All the things they would need to help keep themselves as contained as they can," said Mark Denys, Temple's Student Health Director. He says incoming students received an H1N1 Swine Flu Update emailed today urging them to bring a thermometer and hand sanitizer with them to school. And, said Denys, "All of the key people are meeting on a very regularly basis trying to monitor things and make changes to our plan as they're needed."
August 24, 2009 | WHYY-FM’s Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane
A new report says that two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Yet despite public health efforts and media coverage, obesity rates continue to climb. Are we losing the battle with obesity? “There’s no simple answer, but there are a couple of factors. Simply put, we as a society are taking in more calories and burning less calories. It gets complicated after that simplicity, but that is the fundamental property,” said Gary Foster, director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University.
August 24, 2009 | CNN
We've heard about saddle bags, muffin tops and love handles, but it seems that some women and men of the 21st century are now focused on the chubby joints of their lower extremities—specifically cankles, a slang term for the part of the leg where the ankle meets the calf when there is no definition or indentation. Cankles aren’t recognized as a medical problem, but according to Kathya Zinszer, a physician at Temple University's School of Podiatric Medicine, cankles can be caused by all types of medical issues. "Things like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular risks, sometimes just lymphedema. All of those can lend themselves to deformed ankles or what people are [calling] cankles,” she said.
August 24, 2009 | Art Daily
The Tyler School of Art at Temple University has announced the three finalists in the inaugural Jack Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts, which will award its recipient a prize of $150,000, the world's largest given to a visual artist in a juried competition. The finalists are Sanford Biggers, Michael Rakowitz, and Ryan Trecartin, all of whom will present works in an exhibition to be featured at Temple Gallery from October 1 through October 31, 2009. Inspired by the diversity of Temple University and its unique connection to the thriving art communities of Philadelphia, Wolgin chose the Tyler School to host and administer the competition.
August 23, 2009 | Tampa Tribune
In "Slavery's Constitution," David Waldstreicher, a professor of history at Temple University, argues that the Founding Fathers, while agonizing over the immorality of slavery, nevertheless worked at creating a Constitution "favoring people who owned people." Waldstreicher's interpretation is likely to be controversial, but then, he is no stranger to examining the tarnish on American icons. In "Runaway America," he questioned the anti-slavery credentials of Benjamin Franklin.
August 21, 2009 | Press of Atlantic City
Temple's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, which is affiliated with the university's Fox School of Business, will spend 19 months helping to market Cape May’s new convention center. Students and professors will work with the city Department of Civic Affairs and Recreation staff who ran the old convention facility, which is closed due to structural problems. Students also will collect visitor data to aid future marketing decisions. Other aspects of the deal include a public information office, running new special events, and providing training to convention hall workers before the facility opens.
August 20, 2009 | Philadelphia Inquirer
When Al Golden was hired as the Temple football coach in December 2005, one of the first things on his to-do list was to initiate talks with Villanova about beginning a new rivalry between the teams. At 7 p.m. Sept. 3 at Lincoln Financial Field, that idea will become a reality. Yesterday, Mayor Nutter welcomed Golden, 'Nova coach Andy Talley, and pep squads and officials from both schools to City Hall, where the Mayor's Cup trophy, which goes to the winner, was on display. Why ’Nova? "Number one is, I wanted to play them," said Golden, whose Owls are expected to contend for the Mid-American Conference East Division title this fall.
August 20, 2009 | WHYY-FM
Kelo versus the city of New London is a controversial Supreme Court eminent domain case. It was decided back in 2005. But for a couple of hours in downtown Philadelphia, a handful of Chinese attorneys brought the case back to life. On the 9th floor of the federal courthouse, three Chinese attorneys argue that the government can take someone's home for private economic development. But two other Chinese lawyers say the fifth amendment should protect the homeowner. The mock trial is the culmination of their 15-month master’s degree program at Temple University's Beasley School of Law.
August 20, 2009 | NPR
(There is no link to this report.)
Voters in Japan go to the polls in ten days. The Asahi Newspaper predicts the opposition could take 300 of the 480 seats in parliament. Jeffrey Kingston, a political observer and professor at Temple University’s Japan Campus in Tokyo, said the big challenge for both parties is getting people’s attention. He asked his Japanese neighbor if he cares about the race. “He rolled his eyes and told me it’s sort of the difference between curry rice and rice curry,” said Kingston.
August 20, 2009 | Philadelphia Inquirer
Don Hewitt, who created 60 Minutes and launched television's newsmagazine format, died yesterday. "I think for anyone who grew up in my generation of news producers, in the 1970s, two people were hewn into the side of Mount Rushmore - Roone Arledge [of ABC] and Don Hewitt," said Paul Gluck, a longtime Philadelphia television executive and now associate professor of broadcasting, telecommunications, and mass media at Temple University. "He always had this vision to take traditional television storytelling to a higher and more intricate level," Gluck said.
August 20, 2009 | Jewish Exponent
So how do you offer to help a friend, relative or spouse who is obese? One thing you don't want to do is mention their weight out of the blue, says Gary Foster, director of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University. "If they mention they're unhappy with their weight or have shortness of breath, that's your cue,” Foster advises. Dave Baron, professor of psychiatry at the Temple University School of Medicine, concurs: "Maybe they just joined a weight-loss program or they're always trying to diet. Understand where they are in their weight and their lives, and if you're going to mention their weight, do it with a strong sense of respect and empathy rather than relegating them to the role of patient, with you being the self-appointed doctor."
August 19, 2009 | Bloomberg
South Korea plans to fire its first space rocket from its territory today, advancing a nascent satellite program with a launch that may antagonize communist neighbor North Korea. “I don’t think Japan or the U.S. are worried about South Korea proliferating missiles in the region,” said Robert Dujarric, a professor at Temple University’s Japan Campus in Tokyo. “South Korea would have discussed this extensively with the U.S.”
August 19, 2009 | Cape May County Herald
The city and the Temple University School of Tourism and Hospitality Management have entered into a partnership to manage Cape May’s future Convention Hall and coordinate tourism promotion for the seaside town. Temple will work with the Tourism Commission to come up with a focused long-range plan for the marketing and promotion of Cape May. The school has been very successful in performing the same type of services for the City of Baltimore and Elkhart, Ind.
August 19, 2009 | New York Times
In the world of Brazilian music Otto occupies a place as unusual and unlikely as his name. For more than a decade he has been thought of as the guy who combines the textures of electronica with traditional African-derived rhythms. But as Otto prepares for the release of a new CD, he makes it clear that he is now seeking a more organic sound. “To me Otto is the personification of synthesis, with an ability to swallow a thousand different things and create something new,” said Temple University Press author Ricardo Pessanha, co-author of TUP’s “The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil” (2009).
August 19, 2009 | Associated Press
A weeks-old state legislative spat that threatened funding for Temple University appears to be over. Officials at the university say lawmakers gave preliminary approval to the school's $175 million state budget appropriation today. The funding represents 22 percent of Temple's overall operating costs. It had been held up by a legislator upset over the university's closure of a hospital in his district. Temple then started an intensive letter-writing campaign to lobby lawmakers for the funds.
August 19, 2009 | MSN Money
The National Association of Seed and Venture Funds said Wednesday that it has entered into a research partnership with Temple University’s Fox School of Business that will focus on early-stage investing trends. The partnership’s initial venture will be a survey of senior executives of early-stage funds to gather information. Rajeswararao Chaganti, a professor of general and strategic management at the Fox School, will lead the team that conducts the survey, which is slated to be the first of a series.
August 17, 2009 | WHYY-FM
Tony Danza may soon be the boss of a Philadelphia classroom. Mayor Michael Nutter is behind the idea of making the Philadelphia School District a subject of a reality TV show, saying it is a "unique opportunity" to highlight the city's teachers, administrators, and students. Temple University psychologist Frank Farley agrees. “The more light we can shine on education, the more airtime education can get the better. They need attention, they need resources, maybe something like this will help direct more attention to inner city schools,” he said.
August 17, 2009 | New York Times
The Room for Debate blog posed the following questions to education professionals: Should public schools reduce the weight they give to education school credentials in pay and promotion decisions? Is this happening already, and, if so, what is replacing the traditional system for compensating teachers? "School districts typically prefer teachers with advanced degrees on the premise that these individuals possess a deeper understanding of teaching, learning and human development," said C. Kent McGuire, dean of Temple's College of Education. "In fact, in the district in which I serve as school board member, we typically look for teachers with advanced training (and experience). We are more likely to deploy these teachers in our most challenging or demanding assignments where a broad repertoire of teaching strategies is essential."
August 15, 2009 | CNN
High heels can lead to a number of foot problems for women. At Temple University’s School of Podiatric Medicine, researchers are looking at how different shoes affect the feet. Equipped with a runway, pressure plates and computer analysis, doctors are using the data to better understand how different shoes put pressure on different parts of the feet, including the heels, the ball of the foot and the arches. "Wearing heels for a long period of time can effect the muscles, balance, deformities and the number one problem, degenerative joint disease, also known as osteoarthritis," said Kathya Zinszer of Temple’s School of Podiatric Medicine.
August 15, 2009 | Philadelphia Inquirer
Temple University will cover need-based state grants for students for the fall until the state budget impasse is resolved, officials announced yesterday. The state is holding up $386 million in grants for students to attend public and private colleges in Pennsylvania as budget negotiations continue. About 7,000 Temple students are in line to receive the grants. The average grant for each student is about $3,000, and the total given to all students this year will amount to about $21 million.
August 15, 2009 | KYW News Radio
What's the cost of beauty? How about a toe? Tracey Vlahovic, a podiatrist with Temple University's School of Podiatric Medicine, says some women are electing to have foot surgery to make their feet look better and fit better in high-heeled pointy toed shoes. She says women are having their toes amputated, having the toes shortened, or "toe tucks" just to fit into these types of shoes. But the costs far outweigh the benefits: "There's always a risk with infection, deformity as well as painful scars and things like that with foot surgery," she said.
August 14, 2009 | WHYY-FM
The Senate Finance Committee has removed a provision in its healthcare reform proposal that would pay doctors who offer end-of-life counseling to patients. Amy Goldberg, the section chief of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at Temple's School of Medicine, says the provision would have sent a message to patients to be proactive about having end-of-life discussions with their doctor. "I think you really do a disservice to patients and their families by not supporting, whether it's monetarily or just in the media, that physicians should be automatically having these conversations with patients before they can’t speak for themselves," she said.
August 14, 2009 | Philadelphia Inquirer
With Americans spending billions of dollars a year on fat-loss techniques ranging from celebrity diets to stomach-stapling surgery, the relatively new field of behavioral nutrition examines more down-to-earth questions. Can you reduce the attraction of sweets? Can you supersize fruits and vegetables? (Yes in both cases, although it depends on the child.) "It's a matter of asking: What are children experiencing and how are those experiences shaping their eating?" said behavioral nutritionist Jennifer Orlet Fisher, an associate professor in Temple University's Department of Public Health.
August 13, 2009 | WHYY-FM
Federal prosecutors have filed an appeal of former state Senator Vince Fumo’s four and a half year sentence. If the Solicitor General signs off on the decision, it will re-open the possibility that Fumo could appeal his conviction. Edward Ohlbaum, a professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, says Fumo’s chances of a successful appeal are slim: “He could file an appeal of the conviction and I could put in my name for the next archbishop of Philadelphia and we would both have the same chance of success.”
August 13, 2009 | US News & World Report
As the organizers of Woodstock 1994 and 1999 probably learned, the culture of the Sixties can't be recreated. "What's celebrated about the Sixties are a couple of things," says Bryant Simon, a history professor at Temple University. "It was a moment when youth ruled, and, secondly, there was a certain kind of freedom of expression, of dance, of bodies. Getting high was sort of a third thing—there's a sort of sweetness to those memories. And it was a moment where it seemed that idealism ruled, a certain kind of wide-eyed, sweet, and tender idealism."
August 13, 2009 | BBC World Service
(There is no link to this report.)
Last year alone, more than 31,000 elderly people in Japan were convicted of theft. The majority tell the police they're driven to crime by just being so darn lonely. "It's pretty sad, I mean in Japan here you have the breakdown of the family, the breakdown of community, there's been a huge decline in the number of two generation families. It used to be traditional here that the parents would live with their children and their grandchildren.” said Jeffrey Kingston, professor of modern Japanese history at Temple University in Tokyo.
August 13, 2009 | Telegraph (UK)
Kyoko Okawa, founder of Japan's new Happiness Realization Party, has pledged to attack North Korea if elected. The mother-of-five's party is the latest option for Japanese heading to the polls in the Aug 30 election, which is expected to bring to an end more than five decades of near uninterrupted rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. Jeffrey Kingston, of Temple University’s Japan campus, said: "They are trying to make a splash. They are a tiny party and so they are taking an extreme stance.”
August 7-13, 2009 | Philadelphia Business Journal
Temple’s fresh crop of medical students got their first peek at the medical school’s new $163 million building, an 11 story glass and brick structure. “This building is now the heart of the medical school,” said John M. Daly, the medical school's dean. “It allows us to combine research and teaching in a better fashion than ever before. It is also designed to provide the space to allow us to bring med students, nursing students and college of health profession students together. Students can study as a team — we call it team-based learning.”
August 12, 2009 | WHYY-FM
Temple University students are paying close attention to discussions between area lawmakers and officials from the university and university health system. A bill that would release $175,000,000 dollars in state appropriations to Temple was pulled from the House of Representatives last week because of the health system’s decision to close Northeastern Hospital. A Temple spokesperson says the conversations have been productive. He says students could face a $5,000 tuition hike if the state doesn’t deliver the money.
August 12, 2009 | NBC10, CBS3
(There is no link to this report.)
As part of the Fox School of Business's first official day of service, dozens of first-year, full-time MBA students spent the day painting the interior of a recreation center in an underserved North Philadelphia neighborhood near Main Campus. The mandatory orientation exercise wasn't just a one-and-done event — the students will be charged with developing a business plan for next year's day of service.
August 12, 2009 | USA Today
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of a president and U.S. senators, was lauded after her death Tuesday for a towering achievement of her own: ending the stigma associated with mental disabilities. Among her siblings, Shriver "was the most competitive of the family," said historian James Hilty of Temple University, author of a biography of Shriver's brother, Robert Kennedy. "Her father said if she'd been born (a boy), she would've been president," he said.
August 11, 2009 | New York Times, CBS Evening News
A quotation from Temple University Press author Edward Shorter’s TUP book, The Kennedy Family and the Story of Mental Retardation, appeared in an article on the life of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Shorter was also interviewed on The CBS Evening News about Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s fight for those with developmental disabilities and his book cover was shown.
August 10, 2009 | Marine Science Today
Michael Boufadel will undertake a second and final research trip to Prince William Sound, Alaska, to conclude a study to help understand why there is still oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill remaining in certain areas. Boufadel, professor and chair of civil and environmental engineering at Temple University, hopes to publish more definitive conclusions later this summer. In a series of reports from the field, Bilal A. Khan — one of the master’s candidates on the trip — gave readers the opportunity to learn about the experiences that Boufadel’s research group shared.
August 10, 2009 | Associated Press
Funded through a $3 million, five-year federal grant, a Temple program, nicknamed Emc2, is aimed at mid-career science and math professionals who think they might want to teach. The hope is that by bringing in people with real-world experience to the classroom, students will see how the subjects apply to daily life, said Temple assistant professor Diane Jass Ketelhut, who helped design the program. The program is part of a national effort to address a shortage of math and science instructors and to improve U.S. students' lagging performance in those subjects, said program director Heidi Ramirez.
August 10, 2009 | Philadelphia Inquirer
Last week a jogger on Forbidden Drive was killed by a falling tree branch in an apparent freak accident. Several factors might make trees more precarious now. Many are supporting woody vines that can weaken trees. The weather poses another danger, said Eva Monheim, a certified arborist and professor of environmental design at Temple University. This year has been the first to give us normal rainfall after a series of dry years, she said. Dry years can weaken the root systems of trees though they may appear alive and healthy above ground. Add saturating rains and strong winds, and an apparently healthy tree could fall over, she said.
August 9, 2009 | The Intelligencer
Despite years of local efforts in and around Upper Moreland, the floods keep coming. This spring, Hatboro, Horsham and Upper Moreland submitted a joint funding proposal to the state infrastructure investment authority to excavate sections of several parks, school fields and open areas. The proposal was the "poster child" for inter-municipal cooperation, said Jeffrey Featherstone of Temple University's Center for Sustainable Communities. Data from the Temple center — collected from 56 square miles in three counties over the course of several years — was designed to help make the case for projects like this one.
August 8, 2009 | FOX News
Sonya Sotomayor, who replaced retired Justice David Souter, is not expected to change the ideological split on the high court. Justice Anthony Kennedy will still be the wild card on a bench with four conservatives and four liberals.Yet some legal analysts say Sotomayor's decisions may offer surprises. "I'm not sure people are right in assuming that she's going to replace Justice Souter in terms of the perspective and the opinions she writes," said Joanne Epps, dean of Temple’s Beasley School of Law. "I think she will surprise some of her critics and not be quite as unwelcome as they might suspect."
August 8, 2009 | The Times Picayune (New Orleans, LA)
Rosie the Riveter is a staple of World War II lore. Less well-known are Rosie's brainy counterparts — female math whizzes who performed the top secret, painstaking calculations necessary for bombs to accurately hit their targets. Philadelphia filmmaker and associate professor of film and video production at Temple University LeeAnne Erickson showed a preview of her unfinished film, "Top Secret Rosies: The Female 'Computers' of WWII" at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. "I hope this story will be an inspiration to girls and young women that there is a place for them in hard sciences, mathematics and engineering," said Erickson.
August 7, 2009 | The Providence Journal
The traditional story of the formation of the 1787 Constitution focuses on the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and the often irresponsible state legislatures. However, as Temple historian David Waldstreicher argues in his new book Slavery’s Constitution, from the very beginning the great issues of representation and state sovereignty became entwined with the question of slaves as taxable wealth and as persons in, but seemingly not of, the polity. Waldstreicher contends that “the founders’ creative energies had turned disagreement, even contradiction, regarding slavery into a structure to manage doubts and conflicts about nationhood as well as slavery itself.”
August 7, 2009 | United Press International
Oil companies and biologists have teamed to protect coral communities from the expansion of drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Erik Cordes, a Temple University biologist, and a team of researchers later this month are to map out new coral sites with the aid of a remotely operated vehicle. Funded by U.S. federal grants, the researchers are to set up so-called mitigation sites around coral communities and designate them as preserves that are off limits to oil drilling, Cordes said.
August 7, 2009 | Philadelphia Daily News
Close ties between the Philadelphia Police Department and the District Attorney's Office, which presided over a grand jury investigation into a police beating caught on tape, have led some to question the jury's findings. Sara Jacobson, an associate professor at Temple University's Beasley School of Law and the school's director of trial advocacy, said: "I would hope that it wouldn't be [influenced], but the real concern is how the public views it. If the public doesn't see it as fair, it makes the police's job much tougher."
August 6, 2009 | 6ABC, FOX29, NBC10, CBS3, WRTI-FM, WHYY-FM, more
A Pennsylvania lawmaker upset that Temple University closed a hospital in his district is holding up the school's $175 million state budget appropriation. Temple officials say tuition could skyrocket 45 percent if the university doesn't get the money. The appropriation accounts for 22 percent of Temple's $793 million operating budget. Students rallied against local state representative John Taylor’s removal of the school's state budget appropriation because Temple closed Northeastern Hospital in his district. The students claim they are caught in the middle of a dispute between their school and a state representative.
August 6, 2009 | WHYY-FM
(There is no link to this report.)
Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter spent three days in Harrisburg this week and scored a victory yesterday by gaining support from the state house to raise the city's sales tax, but he could have a tougher time in the republican controlled senate. Joe McGlaughlin is a political science professor at Temple’s College of Liberal Arts. “I’ve never seen a mayor, in my time, spend as much time in Harrisburg, and from what I hear anecdotally he’s been well-received and seems to be making an effective case,” he said.
August 6, 2009 | 6ABC
(There is no link to this report.)
It wasn’t about recreation, but creation. High school students tested their skills by building robots as part of a computer and electrical engineering course at Temple University. The course concluded with a competition in which the robots had to complete an obstacle course in the fastest time possible.
August 6, 2009 | NPR's "Morning Edition"
"Bollywood Hero," A new TV series, will introduce many Americans to India's vibrant cinema. Priya Joshi, a faculty member in Temple's English Department and the author of an upcoming book on Bollywood, says that we'll see more Indian-influenced movies. But she worries that Americans are missing part of what makes Indian movies great. "Some of us Western viewers, perhaps most, look at [Indian] cinema and say it's the cinema of energy, it's a cinema that's very dynamic, it's a cinema of song and dance," she says. But the lyrics, which take on issues ranging from poverty to politics, are worth paying attention to as well. "The songs and dances are a way of bringing to that frame certain political concerns that couldn't be talked about otherwise," Joshi says.
August 6, 2009 | New York Times
Some small contractors, including plumbers and electricians, have found opportunities during the recession. "Small construction-type businesses may lose house-building or large renovation jobs, but there is still a lot of fixing and repairing to do,” said Eustace Kangaju, director of the Fox School of Business’s Small Business Development Center. "I would say city businesses are better off than suburban ones in this kind of economy. Philadelphia, for instance, has older housing stock and things need repairing all the time. Not only are they not building many houses in the suburbs right now, but those that are there are newer and probably in less need of repairs."
August 6, 2009 | Philadelphia Daily News
Columnist Jenice Armstrong explored the motivations of mass murderer George Sodini, who killed three women and injured nine others at a fitness center near Pittsburgh. Psychiatrist David Baron of Temple's School of Medicine said the shooting fits a "horrific" pattern. "Maybe [Sodini] had attempted relationships," said Baron. "Every time, he got rejected. It would feed on itself." Temple psychologist Frank Farley suggested that Sodini's "relationships to men might also be problematic, but nothing like his relationships to women."
August 6, 2009 | Voice of America
Many of the victims of the atomic bomb blasts in Nagasaki and Hiroshima were Koreans living in Japan. Some Korean victims are suing for decades of missed benefits. Jeff Kingston of Temple University, Japan Campus, says the Koreans are likely to win. "I think they have a good legal basis, because the Supreme Court decision found the 74 ministry instructions illegal. So it would mean that instructions having been declared by the Supreme Court as illegal should have no standing, meaning that the ministry actually deprived these Hibakusha of their just benefits," he said.
August 6, 2009 | Jewish Exponent
Eight Israeli women -- five Arabs and three Jews -- spent 10 days in the Philadelphia region as part of the "Women's Intercultural Leadership Seminar," a program organized by the Dialogue Institute. The institute was founded by Leonard Swidler, a professor of religion at Temple who is considered a pioneer in interreligious dialogue. "Dialogue is the opposite of debate. Dialogue means that I think I might learn something from you," said Swidler.
August 5-6, 2009 | Discovery Science Channel
(There is no link to this show.)
"Utah's Dino Graveyard," a documentary that chronicles the unearthing of a yet-to-be-named dinosaur that may be the most heavily armored creature ever discovered, highlights the work of Temple earth and environmental science graduate students Marina and Celina Suarez. The sisters did two years of extensive field research at Utah’s Crystal Quarry Geyser area, helping define this new species of raptor-like dinosaur, called Falcarius utahensis. During that time they unearthed a new Falcarius-rich site now known as the Suarez Site.
August 5, 2009 | Philadelphia Inquirer
As floodwaters receded at the Fort Washington Office Park after Sunday's downpour, business owners stuck with yet another muddy, spirit-breaking cleanup voiced their impatience. Upper Dublin officials estimate that $25 to $30 million will be needed to design and install the stormwater-management systems recommended by Temple University. The school's Center for Sustainable Communities studied the office park's flooding for two years before releasing its suggested action plan last August. Still undetermined is the cost of carrying out Temple's most radical recommendation: buying out the property owners in high-risk flood areas. The Temple study also recommended ripping up about a mile of the park's main thoroughfare, Virginia Drive - a section that was largely impassable Sunday - and converting it to a planted area.
August 5, 2009 | Philadelphia Inquirer
How could Sgt. Crowley and Professor Gates have such different perceptions of their encounter? The central problem is how we think about race or, really, about racism, said law professor David Kairys in an opinion piece. The idea that racism is wrong is very new in our culture, history and law. The change in our values reached its peak when legally sanctioned segregation was ended in the 1960s. This has made it very difficult to talk about the obvious reality that when we encounter each other — on the street, in the workplace or in our homes — we do notice race, and it has meaning for us. This is not wrong or a personal failing, and we won't be able to understand or do anything about race issues if we insist that racism is restricted to villains. Progress on racial issues requires that we pay attention to the reality and consequences of racial perceptions, experiences and empathies — and not excuse or ignore discriminatory conduct just because it's not accompanied by epithets.
August 5, 2009 | Daily News, Chronicle of Higher Ed, KYW News Radio, Associated Press
A Pennsylvania lawmaker upset that Temple University closed a hospital in his district is holding up the school's $175 million state budget appropriation. Temple officials say tuition could skyrocket 45 percent if the university doesn't get the money. The appropriation accounts for 22 percent of Temple's $793 million operating budget. Republican Rep. John Taylor of Philadelphia pulled the funding bill on Tuesday. He says he warned Temple that would happen if the university closed Northeastern Hospital. Temple says the hospital was losing millions of dollars a year. It ended inpatient services there on June 30 but continues to offer non-emergency and outpatient care.
August 4, 2009 | Lancaster Newspapers
The communication between jurors in the Michael Roseboro murder trial and their friends via Facebook raises questions not only about whether the jurors violated Judge James P. Cullen's strict instructions to not speak to anyone about the case, but about the impact of those online discussions on deliberations. "The judge says don't discuss the case, and these guys go on Facebook, which they expect will elicit a response even if they didn't intend it to. Did they violate the judge's order? Probably," said Edward Ohlbaum, a Temple University law professor. "But the question is not so much did they overstep the line. Assuming they did overstep the line, was there any damage or injury?" he said. Ohlbaum doubts it.
August 4, 2009 | KYW News Radio
In college admissions offices this summer, they're keeping an eye on "summer melt" — jargon for those students who get accepted in the spring but find something better to do by the start of classes in the fall. Often they've gotten into a school where they were wait-listed. Bill Black, vice provost for enrollment management at Temple University, says that Temple keeps a headcount of students showing up at orientation sessions: "Right now we're showing less than a one-percent melt." That’s compared to a usual two percent.
August 3, 2009 | Metro (Philadelphia)
As summer starts to wind down, there are still a number of things parents need to be aware of to keep their children safe. Raemma Paerdes Luck, of the department of pediatrics and emergency medicine at Temple University Hospital, offers five tips on keeping kids healthy and safe as they squeeze out the last drops of summer: protect against sunburn, drink plenty of water, avoid leaving children in a hot car, keep an eye out for Poison Ivy, and apply insect repellant liberally before children go out to play.
August 3, 2009 | MSN Health
The combination of cold drink or food hitting the roof of the mouth or back of the throat sets off what is known as "ice cream headache" or brain freeze. Joseph Huilihan, an assistant professor in the department of neurology at the Temple University Health Sciences Center, looked into the phenomenon and published an editorial in the British Medical Journal in 1997. "Since the posterior aspect of the palate is most likely to produce the referred pain of ice cream headache, avoiding contact of the cold food with this area can effectively eliminate the symptoms, " he wrote.
August 3, 2009 | WCBD (Charleston, SC)
Back to school shopping season is heating up. Choosing shoes for children can sometimes be a challenge — they often prefer fashion over comfort. But personal preferences aside, Kieran Mahan, a podiatrist with Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine, recommends looking for a shoe with some flexibility in the front and a moderate amount of stiffness at the back.
August 3, 2009 | WPHT-AM 1210 (CBS)
(There is no link to this story.)
Host Michael Smerconish discussed the laws that pertain to eligibility for the presidency and the origins of the “natural born citizen” requirement with Professor Peter Spiro of Temple’s Beasley School of Law. "At the time of the founding, place of birth had some significance. Literally in the natural order of things, it was thought that you owed perpetual allegiance to the sovereign of where you were born. And that loyalty was thought to be deemed by god and indissoluble," Spiro said.
August 3, 2009 | Philadelphia Inquirer
A six week study is helping to pinpoint which buildings on Temple’s campus may be the most deadly for birds. Glass facades and windows are big culprits, as “bird building” collisions claim countless birds every year; now Temple has teamed up with Audubon Pennsylvania to reduce bird-window mishaps. Sandra McDade, Temple’s Director of Sustainability, says they hope to repeat the study during the fall migration and look at options — such as paint dots on windows or screens — to cut down on the collisions.
August 3, 2009 | Associated Press
A new forensic technique could give investigators a tool to track stolen fossils, which often disappear into living rooms, lucrative underground markets or private collections. The process could one day lead to a database of site "fingerprints." Early signs suggest that the technique could be useful in nabbing those capitalizing on looted fossils, said Dennis Terry, associate professor of earth and environmental science at Temple University. "I really hope we can make use of this to deter the ones out there really trying to make a profit from this," said Terry, who is working on the project with fellow Temple researcher David Grandstaff, professor of earth and environmental science.
August 3, 2009 | Indo-Asian News Service
Foot complications, such as open wounds, can be difficult to treat or heal. However, a study has revealed that a new dressing powder, which acts exactly like a layer of skin, is cutting down healing time and reducing the pain from serious foot ulcers. "This new powder comes together, in an amazing flexible film that mimics the wound's surface and helps it to retain moisture and protect the wound, but still allows the right amount of air flow needed for the wound to close," said study co-author Tracey Vlahovic of Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine.
August 2, 2009 | WHYY-FM
A Brooklyn, New York man is accused of brokering the sale of black-market kidneys and taking advantage of vulnerable donors from Israel. UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing, recommends that every transplant center provide an advocate to protect the interests of donors, but each hospital sets its own policies. John Daller leads an organ transplant team at Temple University Hospital where donors have an advocate with no ties to the surgery team. "As we all know there is always a way around everything. You have to look at the system and say: Is there something inherently wrong in the system or is this just an act of a bad doer?" Daller said.
August-September 2009 | Semi-Homemade Magazine
A photo spread featured Temple College of Education graduate student Lari Luckenbill, who appeared last year on the popular Food Network show "Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee." Luckenbill had been invited to the host's custom studio in Brooklyn to tape an episode that included Luckenbill making an orzo recipe.
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