Adjuncts rally for union at bell tower

The Adjunct Organizing Committee is pushing for unionization with the support of TAUP.

The Adjunct Organizing Committee, a group that aims to unionize Temple’s part-time faculty, declared the week of Nov. 16 Adjunct Awareness Week. Members of the committee stood at the Bell Tower around noon every day through Nov. 20.

The AOC has worked for several years to unionize adjuncts. Its goals are to gain some predictability in adjuncts’ courses, a clear path for promotion based on performance in teaching and research and equal pay and benefits for equal work.

This is the first year the committee organized Adjunct Awareness Week.

Adjunct American studies professor Regina Bannan said they chose to do so this year, “because the university is doing the Middle States Study for accreditation, and the Middle States standard is that all faculty should be treated as faculty. We decided to do this to raise awareness that Temple is not treating its adjuncts equally.”

Adjunct professors make up 46.5 percent of Temple’s faculty but do not receive the same pay and benefits awarded to full-time professors. Although the AOC has the support of the Temple Association of University Professionals and the American Federation of Teachers, its members still face great opposition in their quest for unionization.

To read the rest of this 1,000 word piece for The Temple News, click here.

From soul to screen

Peter Jackson’s newest film is an emotionally charged endeavor that examines the soul after death.

The Lovely Bones is Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson’s favorite of his projects, if only because it is his most recently completed film.

“That’s like asking a mother which of your six children is your favorite,” Jackson said in a conference call in which The Temple News took part. “Honestly, you enjoy making the one that you’re working on at the time the most because it’s such an intense experience, making a film, you know.”

The Lovely Bones, set for release Jan. 15, 2010, is about how the Salmon family, living in rural Pennsylvania in the early 1970s, deals with the rape and murder of their 14-year-old daughter, Susie, while she watches from heaven, unable to intervene in events on earth or to bring her father closer to discovering the identity of her killer. The Lovely Bones is an adaption of Alice Sebold’s novel of the same name published in 2002.

To read the rest of this 900 word article for The Temple News, click here.

Fraternity brothers shake cans for prostate cancer

“Ask me about my prostate,” cried Jonah Hill, a member of Phi Kappa Theta, at the fraternity-sponsored Bell Tower can shake to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer held Tuesday.

Although President Obama declared September Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, an international following has deemed November an unofficial men’s health month by supporting Movember, an effort to bring awareness to and raise money for prostate and testicular cancers. Phi Kappa Theta fraternities nationwide teamed up with Movember to grow mustaches and raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the LIVESTRONG Foundation.

This is the first year Phi Kappa Theta has held this fundraiser.

“It’s a good cause because one in six men gets prostate cancer,” Derek Spencer said, holding a can out to passersby at the Bell Tower around 1:30 p.m. Phi Kappa Theta’s can shake began at 11 a.m. and would last until 3 p.m.

The rest of this article, a 350-word web exclusive written for The Temple News, can be read at Temple-News.com.

Edward H. Rosen Hillel Center opens doors for students of all faiths

The dedication ceremony for the Edward H. Rosen Hillel Center a block off Main Campus was held Wednesday night included greetings and remarks from many of those involved in the realization of a center where all students – not just those of the Jewish faith – could gather. Those in attendance included Sen. Arlen Specter, President Ann Weaver Hart and namesake Edward H. Rosen.

Rosen wore a suit, a red tie and a rose pinned to his left lapel and spoke openly and warmly about his role in the campaign for a Jewish community center.


A graduate of Yale, Rosen learned at his school’s Hillel about community service and giving back and after 20 years of service on Temple’s Board of Trustees, the opportunity presented itself.

“I’ve been working in the community trying to pay back the opportunities I had growing up. My goal [with this Hillel] was to make a meeting place for forums and lectures … It’s a wonderful place,” Rosen said.

This article was written for The Temple News' News section. Appeared in print on November 17, 2009. Read it online here.

The first picture, above, is what the finished Rosen Hillel Center is to look like. The second picture is of Mr. Rosen and Temple President Anne Weaver Hart.

The Spectrum signs off

After four sold-out Pearl Jam shows the last week of October, the legendary building that served as the site of championships and concerts over the years, closed its doors.

Beer cost a dime at the concession stand.

A slice of pizza cost a quarter, a roast beef sandwich just 75 cents, and a 12-ounce soda – the largest size available – cost a quarter. These were just some of the items on the Wachovia Spectrum’s (then simply named the Spectrum) menu in September 1967.

The Spectrum, which opened Sep. 30, 1967 with the two-day Quaker City Jazz Festival, closed its doors Oct. 31 after a four-show concert series by Pearl Jam. The arena’s closing signals the end of an incredible era and marks, or at least Comcast-Spectacor and The Cordish Company would hope, the beginning of a new era.



To read the rest of this 900 word article for The Temple News, click here.

Cheap dates in Philly

This 880 word piece covers cheap dates in Philadelphia, particularly focused on college students, for College Clipper.

Dating can quickly get expensive and when you’re a college student, the word “expensive” just cannot exist in your vocabulary. You’ve likely got student loans and you’re probably low on spending money anyway. But even though dating can be a strain on your wallet, it doesn’t have to be. If you don’t mind doing some walking, here are some ideas that will make your next date in Philadelphia an affordable one:

For the artsy couple:
You’re going to take a trip to the Rodin Museum on the Parkway. Admission is pay-as-you-wish although a donation of $5 is suggested. Rodin, a French artist known for his statue “The Thinker” but also, and more romantically, “The Kiss.” Recreate this piece of Rodin’s work. You are on a date, aren’t you? Once you’re done at the museum, head over to The Rose Tattoo Café for lunch. It usually cost around $10 for a lunch entrée. After you’ve had your fill, walk to the intersection of Spring Garden and Broad Streets. On the northeast corner you’ll see a big mural that incorporates kids reenacting famous artworks. Engage in a conversation about the murals in Philly.

While CollegeClipper.com is not live at the moment, when it is, I will post the link to the entire article. In the meantime, if you're interested in reading it, please email me at rosellaeleanor@gmail.com.

(Photo Credit: Szilas via Wikimedia Commons)

Guarding your meager money supply

I wrote this 600 word piece about budgeting money as a college student for College Clipper's "Campus Talk" section. Here is the beginning of the piece:

I’m rich! At the moment, I have 32 dollars and 43 cents to my name. This is more money than I usually have.

So what, if anything, do I have to complain about? Well, a week ago my dad gave me $50. This means in one week I have spent $17.57. I am, quite frankly, surprised I have as much money left as I do. College is expensive. And college kids are broke. The question quickly becomes: What does one spend their little money on?


Read the rest of this piece here.

(Photo credit: Grisu the Dragon via Flickr.)