Insurance protected by new law

A new law will protect dependent college students from losing their health insurance in the event of serious medical illness.

“Michelle’s Law,” signed by President Bush this month, allows full-time college students to take a year of medical leave without the risk of losing their insurance. The law will become effective October 2009. It only applies to students who are dependants covered under their parent’s health insurance plans.

“Pennsylvania has already done a great job with similar programs, and this is just going to help it,” said Mark Denys, associate director of Student Health Services. “Anything that allows students more health insurance is a good thing.”

The law borrows from a similar state law established in New Hampshire in 2006. It is named after Michelle Morse, a Plymouth State University student who maintained a full course load while undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer in order to keep her insurance. Morse died in 2005, nearly six months after she graduated.

The only other option was paying $550 premiums through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, which gives workers and families who lose their health benefits the right to continue their group health plans for limited periods of time under certain circumstances.

Several states have passed similar laws since then. A law to expand coverage for dependents was introduced in Pennsylvania this year.

The law does not require insurance companies to cover any new procedures or individuals—it just prohibits them from dropping coverage. A “serious medical illness” must come from mental illness resulting from stress and substance abuse, according to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
“This [law] pinpointed a very distinct population of people that deserve access to care,” said Keysha Brooks-Coley, associate director of federal relations at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, an advocacy group that lobbied for the law. “This is something we thought was a way we could address access to care at a higher level.”

The university offers student health insurance plans at reduced rates through Independence Blue Cross at the start of each semester. Medical, podiatric and international students are required to have health insurance.

“We usually wind up with 5,000 students enrolled,” said Gerry O’Kane, assistant director of benefits at Human Resources.

Of the 5,000 enrolled, O’Kane said between 1,500 and 2,000 students voluntarily chose between two student plans.

The university doesn’t administer a medical leave, but once students enroll with a plan, they’re enrolled on a six or 12 month basis, O’Kane said. Students keep the insurance whether or not they’re enrolled in school.

In 2006, 7 percent of college students were found to be covered through private health insurance plans, according to a report issued by the Government Accountability Office in March. Sixty-seven percent of college students were covered through employee-sponsored plans.

Nick Pipitone can be reached at nicholas.pipitone@temple.edu.

Book Worm: Grandmasters of horror

Of all the holidays celebrated in the Anglo-American world, only Christmas offers a literary pedigree equal to that of Halloween. The horror story, of course, is a year-round phenomenon –but at no time during the year is the thrill of reading a truly-frightful chiller quite the same as during these last few weeks of October.

Like a heartwarming Christmas tale, a good horror story can become a tradition. Thus, books like Dracula and Frankenstein become late-October institutions, just as A Christmas Carol and The Gift of the Magi might be read and re-read every December.

Yet reading is a solitary pursuit, and as the days grow shorter and the nights colder, we find ourselves pining increasingly for the company of our friends and family. How, then, to reconcile the autumnal desire to immerse ourselves in the literature of the macabre with the even stronger drive for human proximity? If you live in Philadelphia, it’s not all that hard.

Philadelphia, where Edgar Allen Poe resided while penning some of his finest stories and where Bram Stoker’s original notes for Dracula now rest, could well become a pilgrimage site for lovers of literary horror (and, indeed, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation is trying to make it one). For residents, the Poe House and Rosenbach Museum (where Stoker’s notes are located) should already be October traditions.

But we’ll cut you a break. Maybe you haven’t lived in the city for long, maybe you just haven’t yet had the chance to check out either site. And that’s fine – because there’s hardly been a better time to start up such traditions than now, with both the Poe House and Rosenbach presenting Halloween-themed events designed to enlighten, rather than frighten, their audiences.

At the Poe House at Seventh and Spring Garden streets, the Friends of Poe kick off their celebration of his January 2009 bicentennial with a Halloween-night reading of The Raven by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (played by actress and television personality Cassandra Peterson). The reading starts at 5:30 p.m., but the celebration will last until 7 p.m. This night will also highlight the Friends’ activities and other events surrounding the Poe bicentennial.

The Rosenbach Museum and Library at 20th Street and Delancey Place, meanwhile, has already been celebrating its “Release the Bats” Dracula Festival for a few days now. The annual Dracula puppet parade around Rittenhouse Square, for instance, was held on Saturday evening. However, you’ve still got time to catch the tail end of things. “The Growth of Stoker’s Dracula,” the festival’s third and final hands-on tour of Stoker’s original notes, will be led by Dracula scholar Elizabeth Miller at 3 p.m. on Oct. 29. Three hours later, Rosenbach guest curator Patrick Rodgers will lead a gallery talk linking the Dracula Festival to the museum’s current showcase exhibit of author-illustrator Maurice Sendak’s work. “Monster’s Ink: The Bogeymen in Sendak’s Closet” examines and explains the roots of Sendak’s monsters in Where the Wild Things Are and beyond.

Philadelphia history is about more than just the Liberty Bell and Continental Congress. Attending either one of these celebrations means whetting your taste for both history and horror in one fell swoop.

Peter Chomko can be contacted at pchomko@temple.edu.

Trust will run thin on Nov. 4

We’re a week away. People are starting to panic. Who will win the election? We can’t think about anything else.

Isn’t it remarkable how one day can be the cause for such commotion worldwide, when only U.S. citizens control its outcome? Or do they?

The election has abducted all forms of communication. It has flooded commercials, news broadcasts, periodicals, radio shows and even sketch comedies. It has infiltrated “nonpartisan” organizations as well as the honest ones. Every conversation circles back to the election; it seems futile to try to avoid it.

“Do you like cats?”

“Sometimes. They can be sneaky and conniving, though. It seems like you can’t trust anything these days. I mean, look at the presidential candidates. They have skeletons in their closets, too.”
Hell, we’ve even got kids regurgitating what their parents told them.

This obsession has led to the second installment of my Election Recovery Plan. After all this hype, what will people have to discuss, protest or market? We’ve got to wean ourselves off this political mentality. The day will come sooner than you think when your propaganda just isn’t relative anymore. Let’s be proactive and intervene before this obsession becomes violent or harmful, to you or to others. I don’t want any sore losers come Nov. 5.

Coping is a useful skill to learn before this election is over. Rather, coping the American way – also known as using defense mechanisms. Maybe denial works for you. Just avoid human contact for the next four years or so.

Perhaps humor is the way you prefer to stifle your feelings. So, to the supporters of Sen. Barack Obama, keep calling Sen. John McCain an old fart; and to those on the other side of the spectrum, keep picking on those liberal hippies. Whatever makes you feel bigger in the end.

“If John McCain wins, I’m going to sing ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ by the British-American rock band Foreigner,” sophomore economics major Thomas Reismeier said firmly.

Another aspect of dealing with this election is attempting to change our theme of conversation. Oh yeah, the Phillies are in the World Series, right? However, that will only last so long. In fact, all pop culture obsessions will soon fade out, and we should learn to ignore them and discuss more significant and long-standing concepts. Try bringing up the benefits of friendship or the humor in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy next time you’re in a circle of friends. These ideas are undisputed and will persist across cultures and time.

But what if you still want to complain about something? Remember, you’re a young adult in college. You should be all over that: school, weeknights, midterms, jobs, classes, dry spells, money, cold weather, homework, parents, friends, lovers and really long tedious papers. I bet you forgot, didn’t you? No worries, you’ll have plenty to whine about even if it’s not politics.

Those companies involved with marketing and advertising are also facing a dilemma: what or who can we sell? Oh wait, America’s got that covered, too. In fact, the Christmas season is starting late this year. Santa’s probably mad about the naughty senators cutting in on his TV time.

“I don’t think I will really miss the election or the political rhetoric or the ads,” sophomore classics major Lauren Faralli said assuredly. “But I will miss Tina Fey cameos on Saturday Night Live that make it almost watchable.”

Closer to home, Temple student organizations are going to have to find other issues to discuss. It’s been speculated before that some of these groups have silent biases toward certain political parties, although they would claim otherwise. I mean, imagine if a member of Students for Environmental Action tried to promote participating in a McCain rally at the meeting. Or better yet, replace SEA with Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and McCain with Sarah Palin.

Hopefully, the days after Nov. 4 will be full of rekindled friendships, as well as renewed interests in ourselves as well as the world outside TV and Internet blogs. Maybe we should all take a day off for meditation or wandering in the woods so that we can find ourselves again. Because it seems like we’re all a little lost among the left- and right-winged propaganda.

Let’s find a center.

Sarah Sanders can be reached at sarah.sanders@temple.edu.

The Young Werewolves claws out its unique niche

“Buddy Holly Meets The Ramones at a Beef-and-Beer,” an image evocative of rockabilly guitar played in the key of coolness, was the phrase Nick Falcon posted on phillymusic.com in 2002 when he was seeking musicians.

It caught the eye of Lady Dana Kain and Jonny Wolf, who with Falcon, morphed into The Young Werewolves, a horror-themed rock ‘n’ roll band from Philly with a ravenous hunger for rockabilly covers and the live music experience.

Falcon’s teenage years in the 1970s and the 1980s were spent wailing on the guitar in hardcore bands, spray painting Dadaism-influenced punk graffiti and falling in love with the old, dead virtuosos of jazz guitarists like Johnny Smith.

“I always played punk rock from age 15 onward,” the Philly native said. “When I turned 27, 28, 29, 30, I realized this is really it, if I’m going to do music and do guitar I should do something and have some credibility – as to not be pretentious. I’m still young enough to rock out.”

Rocking out to The Young Werewolves is easy, but labeling it proves troublesome. The sights and sounds of a hallowed body guitar – a style easily stolen from Brian Setzer and a stand-up drummer – draw obvious comparisons to rockabilly, but Dana Kain’s B-horror film-inspired lyrics push the band one step closer to the dark side of goth-a-billy.

But Falcon keeps it simple.

“Rock ‘n’ roll is what it feels like to me,” he said.

Only the foolish would pigeonhole The Young Werewolves, since the breadth of music Falcon cites as influences spans over eight decades. The band has independently released two full-length albums, but its abundance of rockabilly covers – ranging from Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode to Duke Ellington and the Beatles, boosts its repertoire to more than 100 songs.

Considering the upbeat, surfer-rock tempo accompanying curiously-titled songs like “Satan’s Daughter” and “Touched by a Demon,” Falcon and his band mates have substituted their bark with a more accessible, happy-go-lucky aura. But their overall bite is still like a werewolf – a loner existing beyond the flimsy rules and norms of society.

“Major labels are about wings. They’re not about legs,” he said, during a phone interview. “They’re about making albums that sell a million each week and maybe sell half a million the second album and then taper out and disappear.”

To make a name for his band, Falcon used the Internet and a workman’s approach – touring in Maryland, New York and just about anywhere else he could perform. He did it without bribing radio stations with white envelopes or hiring independent promoters to push his project onto focus groups, a common practice for any band signed to a major label.

“We’re not gonna pay to play,” he said. “If we need a focus group to tell us what we like, then we’re not a band. We’re a corporation.”

Despite taking a non-traditional approach, The Young Werewolves is being noticed.

Its most recent album, Cheat The Devil, was executively produced by Sid Haig, the bald and bearded horror-film icon who starred as the psychopathic clown Captain Spalding in Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects.

Reviews from Rockabilly and Amped magazines were positive – citing the quality of fine rock ‘n’ roll music rather than the special guest appearance.

“WPRB spins us, KRock in L.A. has DJ Robby on the Rock – he loves us,” Falcon said. “He spins us every Halloween and Sunday nights.”

On Halloween, The Young Werewolves will rip through the homogeneous sludge of formatted radio programming when it howls live on 104.5 FM, its first encounter with the typically robotic network heads behind Clear Channel Communications. The program will be followed by a show at one of the band’s favorite stomping grounds at Sweeney’s in Northeast Philadelphia.

In a world of broad labels and a million subcultures spreading through the Internet, The Young Werewolves has clawed out a unique niche.

“That cowboy mentality that we have makes us not even able to pursue major record labels,” Falcon said. “We’ll take over the world one city at a time, but we’ll do it on our schedule, not any major label’s schedule.”

Jimmy Viola can be reached at jimmy.viola@temple.edu.

Voting 101: Your guide to Election Day

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4.
In Pennsylvania, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The busiest times of the day to vote are before and after normal business hours. If possible, try going at less-busy times. Voters who are in line by the time the polls close are allowed to cast their votes.
All registered voters can vote on Election Day. Make sure to:

Know Where to Vote
Polling places are determined by mailing addresses listed on voter registration cards. To locate polling places or view a demonstration of the type of voting system used in Pennsylvania counties, visit www.votespa.com.

Bring Identification
All first-time voters must bring identification with them in order to vote.
Approved forms of photo identification include:
• Pennsylvania driver’s license or PennDOT ID card
• ID issued by any Commonwealth agency
• ID issued by the U.S. Government
• U.S. passport
• Student ID (Owl Card)
• Employee ID
Approved forms of non-photo identification include:
• Confirmation issued by the County Voter Registration Office
• Non-photo ID issued by the Commonwealth
• Non-photo ID issued by the U.S. Government
• Current utility bill
• Current bank statement
• Current paycheck
Those who do not bring an ID on Election Day can vote with a provisional ballot, which is used to record a vote when there a question regarding a voter’s eligibility.

Avoid Overvoting
An overvote happens when voters vote for more candidates than the number of candidates they are permitted to vote for in a particular office race.

If a voter accidentally votes for more than the allowed number of candidates, ask for a new ballot before the defective ballot is cast. If the ballot is not cast, the District Board of Elections is obligated to provide a replacement ballot upon request.

Overvotes occur when voting on an optical scan or paper ballot voting system, not on a direct recording electronic voting system.

Request Assistance While Voting
Voters who have disabilities, physical limitations or limited English proficiency can ask for help at their polling places. Voters may also contact their County Voter Registration offices before Election Day to request assistance.

Know What to Wear
The Pennsylvania Department of State has informed county elections officials that voters who show up at the polls wearing campaign buttons or T-shirts are allowed to cast their ballots.

Voters are prohibited from campaigning in the polling place by soliciting votes for political parties or candidates. Poll watchers in some counties, however, cannot wear clothing or buttons that advocate the election of a candidate or a specific political party.

Deadline
For registered voters in Pennsylvania, all absentee ballots are due this Friday, Oct. 31.

Brittany Diggs can be reached at bdiggs@temple.edu.

Pillow Talk: Provocative Halloweens controversial

Halloween has been one of my favorite holidays for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, it was because I got lots of candy one night and cake the next. After all, my birthday is Nov. 1.

However, with age has come my appreciation for Halloween style. The costumes I prefer are unique, crazy or just downright hilarious. In my senior year of high school, I fashioned a unicorn costume from a blue wig, felt and a light gray hoodie and sweatpants. There are Facebook pictures to prove it.

I saw a male rugby player last year donning a skimpy French maid outfit – the best photo-op of the night. This year, my roommates and I are going with an Alice in Wonderland theme and purposely not including an Alice.

Obviously, my friends and I aren’t scared of looking or acting a bit ridiculous. However, as out of hand as we might get, we have one condition: lingerie with animal ears is not acceptable. We have a hard time understanding why girls would want to freeze in the chill of fall, wearing overpriced scraps of fabric bought in a sex shop when they can get just as much male attention any other night of the year wearing something as demure as a pair of jeans and a sweater.

So, I decided to find out if my untraditional group of friends and I are the only ones who harbor no desire to look like a sexy animal for the week of festivities.

Sophomore biology major Rachel Chiaverelli is spending her Temple Halloween dressed up as a Playboy bunny.

“But a cute one, not a slutty one,” she insisted. “Bunny ears, a bunny suit that looks just like the real ones, black leggings, white gloves and heels.”

The way she described it doesn’t make it sound too bad. A classy bunny? I love the irony, however unintentional it may be.

On the subject of girls willing to show more skin, Chiaverelli seemed indifferent.

“I mean, some girls aren’t that bad – it is the one night of the year when you have the excuse to look slutty,” she said. “But when girls act like the sluts they’re dressed as, that’s just not cool. I think they realize the next day how unattractive they looked to people.”

Chiaverelli brings up a good point. Don’t let one of your tricks end with the treat of an STD. Ladies – like any other night of the year, exercise caution in your desire to have the same bedroom behavior as bunnies.

Senior English major Andrew Susser has seen a few Temple Halloweens in his day and was more than willing to give his two cents to me.

“Common thought is that it’s an excuse for girls to run around half naked,” he said, beginning to echo Chiaverelli’s sentiments, “but basically it’s no different than a spring day. The only difference between the two is some black and white makeup.”

Honestly, I’d never even thought of it that way. “Slutty” Halloween costumes really are just a seasonal version of summer-style clothes, and what’s wrong with that? The girls get to wear what they want, the guys get to see what they want and everyone walks away a winner. However, when I asked Susser if he particularly liked the bare skin, he said something that made me suspect he’d been reading my notes.

“I’d rather see creativity,” he said.

My extremely brief study yielded somewhat inconclusive results. But here’s what I can tell you, ladies of Temple: creativity counts. In a time where the economy sucks and it doesn’t really matter to girls or guys – well, to Susser, at least – if you’re wearing something you can be seen in during summer, you might as well have some fun, save some money and invest in some Halloween memories that can’t be bought at Condom Kingdom. But if you do decide to exercise your right to sluttiness, wear a coat outside! Having a cold is never sexy.

Libby Peck can be reached at elizabeth.peck@temple.edu.

Lucky student wins World Series ticket

Bill Gant never thought he’d be in the stands during the World Series.

But Sunday night, the dream of attending one of the biggest Phillies games since 1993 came true. Gant, the winner of a raffle for Game 4 tickets held by Richie’s Deli and Pizza, was able to see the Phillies host the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia.

“I’ve always been a big Philadelphia sports fan,” said Gant, a senior risk management and insurance major. “And I figured, the World Series is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the raffle benefited a good cause.”

In coordination with Gamma Iota Sigma, a professional fraternity for risk management, insurance and actuarial science majors, Richie, the deli’s owner, sold $5 raffle tickets for four days at his stand in the Anderson food pad.

“[To help kids] was my whole goal,” Richie said. “It was great that Gamma could help me donate the money because I’m so busy.”

The proceeds went to the Children’s Alopecia Project, a charity to which Gamma Iota Sigma has been donating all year.

Amanda Dolan, the senior risk management major who helped Richie organize the raffle, said the idea to donate to the Children’s Alopecia Project came from a conversation she had with Richie two weeks prior to the raffle.

“I love people. It doesn’t matter who it is,” Richie said. “I’ll do whatever I can for people.”
The drawing took place on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in front of Richie’s Deli and Pizza.

Some students recognized the importance of supporting a good cause whether or not they are baseball fans.

“I bought a raffle ticket from Richie’s, not because I wanted to go to the Phillies game, but because of the cause they were supporting,” said Colleen Reinert, a junior university studies major.

Ester Roche Curet bought a ticket, and while she was excited about the possibility of going to a World Series game for $5, she said she was more interested in donating the money.

“It’s a win-win because the money goes to charity,” said Curet, a junior education major.

The game was Sunday evening, where the Phillies beat the Rays in thrilling fashion, hitting four home runs and winning 10-2.

“It was electric,” Gant said. “The whole game.”

In addition to game tickets, the raffle included a free Richie’s T-shirt, a free Phillies World Series T-shirt and hat and dinner supplied by Richie’s.

Altogether, the raffle raised more than $1,000 for the charity.

“Thanks goes to Richie. This was his brainchild,” Gant said. “I was lucky enough to win, but making $1,100 for charity in four days is bigger than that.”

Morgan Zalot and Kevin Brosky can be reached at info@temple-news.com.

Night owls run rampant

Young men in North Philadelphia first attended Russell Conwell’s Temple College in the late 1880s. They worked during the day to earn a modest living, and at nightfall became bespectacled pupils seeking education and personal refinement.

Conwell’s well-known statement boasted of his working-class hero students – “The owl of the night makes the eagle of the day.” The Temple community has stretched and grown across a few more streets since Conwell’s days, but the night owl moniker still lingers.

The many street lights cast a glow on the night owl going for a very late-night stroll around campus. Lingering on Liacouras Walk or bundling up against the cold on North Broad Street at late hours provides a glimpse into the lives of Temple’s insomniacs.

While most students choose to remain in their rooms, a few excitement-seekers gather around a guitarist on Liacouras Walk to trade folk lyrics. Contemplative smokers huddle outside 7-Eleven for a break. It is evident that there are only a handful of people out late at night. But the few that are out and about don’t mind shedding light on the reason for their nightly activities.

“There’s always something to do here,” said David Paley, a freshman advertising and marketing major. “If I went to bed early, I feel I’d be missing out. On the weekends I go to bed around 3 a.m. or 4 a.m.”

Paley, who sits with a group of friends outside of 1940 residence hall, is a first-year night owl. Like many of his freshman peers, he is intrigued by the idea of college life. His sleeping habits, though, sometimes take a toll on his body.

“I usually underestimate how much sleep I need,” Paley said. “I have an 8:40 class. I’m not going to miss that, but I don’t want to go to bed early and miss out on the fun, either.”

The first year of college is always a struggle between balancing a social life and grades. The sizeable amount of freshmen out late at night on a weekend provides food for thought – the question is whether these students are prepared for the next five days of classes since they’re clearly not getting enough sleep.

“Well, I run on Red Bulls and coffee,” Paley said, smiling.

Dr. Dustin Kidd, professor of sociology, is not overly worried about freshmen indulging in the night owl habit.

“There’s a long history of young people staying up late and an even longer history of young people making bad decisions,” Kidd said. “They grow out of both. I doubt seriously that fast food or Red Bull make a difference. We’ve always had coffee. And people knew how to entertain themselves late at night long before the Internet, whether by reading novels or drinking in bars.”

The availability of a constant caffeine supply at 7-Eleven and Starbucks seems to help students stay up later and run on less sleep. However, night owls are faced with the dilemma of where to congregate during the cold weather seasons.

“There definitely needs to be a place to hang out inside when it’s cold,” Paley said. “All-night movies or a lounge would be cool.”

Kidd said the primary reason students, especially freshmen, love staying out late is because they’re intrigued by their new lives, lack of sleep and bad grades aside.

“The best explanation is college,” Kidd said. “Freshmen have just had their lives disrupted pretty significantly, especially if they move out from their parents’ homes. They move from a place where the schedule is clear and regular to one where it is highly variable and not well-governed. They eventually adjust and find a regular sleep pattern, or they fail out for missing class.”

The TECH Center at 3:30 a.m. is another place to find some night owls. Juniors Ben Schefer and Philip Holmes, both political science majors, loiter outside the building.

“I became a night owl in college,” Schefer said. “It was a steady transition from going to bed early first semester of freshman year to staying out late. In the beginning, I stayed up late because of my classes. Staying up late to do work then became an excuse in general to stay up all night.”
Holmes said he is a night owl because he has to be.

“I have classes in the mornings and work in the afternoons, so the only time to get anything done is at night.”

Both self-professed night owls believe that staying up late is a part of college living and believe Temple’s administration shouldn’t cater to the few that burn the midnight oil.

“I have no problem with the night offerings here,” Schefer said. “I make my own fun. In fact, it’s a ritual of mine to stay up in order to watch the sun rise.”

“There’s enough stuff here to keep me occupied at night. The Starbucks at the TECH Center is open for a late-night snack,” Holmes said. “I don’t feel it’s a good idea for restaurants to stay open late at night anyway – they would probably lose money with the lack of business.”

Schefer’s and Holmes’ responses show that the relationship between Temple and its night owls should remain laissez-faire. With upperclassmen already having formed friends and knowledge of the city, they do not need the university to interfere with their nocturnal habits.

Freshmen, however, still search for friends and fun and would like to see Temple provide around-the-clock activities for those who don’t want to retire to their dorm rooms early.

Outside Johnson and Hardwick residence hall is another group out late.

“Why am I up so late? I was dragged out of my room by my friend,” said Ronnie Galindo, an undeclared freshman. “Plus, I need to finish a paper at the TECH Center.”

Kidd said although students’ fascination by late nights keeps them out in the beginning, when the physical and emotional shortcomings finally catch up with them, their late-night rides will end fast.

“Either way, the situation normalizes after a period of adjustment,” Kidd said.

But Galindo, like most night owls, loves college life and the new lifestyle that comes with it.

“I went to bed very late in the summer, and college feels like an extension of summer,” Galindo said. “Most of my classes begin at 11:40 a.m., leaving me time to party on Thursday and wake up for class. There’s no reason for me to get up [early] in the morning.”

Mark Newman can be reached at mark.newman@temple.edu.

Traditional trades suffer as college rates increase

Our dishwasher wouldn’t stop running.

When our landlord called in the repairman, he said the timer needed replacing. Turns out, the part is more expensive than buying another dishwasher, as is the case with most technologies these days, so the owner opted to purchase a new appliance for our kitchen.

Home Depot would install it. All we had to do was pull the old dishwasher out from the wall.

After 45 minutes of tinkering with my 64-year-old father on speakerphone, I can finally pull the dishwasher out from under the counter. I’m sweaty and tired on a Thursday evening, and there’s water all over the floor. Meanwhile, two of my male roommates are sitting 15 feet away on the couch, probably watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Not only are my roomies lazy, household repairs are not exactly their forte. They’re not alone, though. I wouldn’t have known what to do without my dad’s voice coming out of my cell phone on the floor. How did we become so inept? I’m going to college. I’m educated. I’m independent.

Unfortunately, it’s only two out of three: I may be living on my own, but I still rely on my parents for carpentry instructions or how to bake a potato. But I do have an opportunity that most kids in my parents’ day didn’t have: education for a better career and thus a better lifestyle. We’re a new generation, learning how to take on a new world.

We’re also learning how to rely on other people to know what they’re talking about.

“[When] you no longer have the skills, don’t know how something works, you don’t know what needs to be done,” said Kevin Delaney, a sociology professor at Temple and vice dean for faculty affairs in the College of Liberal Arts. “You’re at the mercy of the person advising you.”

With each generation, practical skills, along with the knowledge of how, are passed on less and less. As Delaney expressed, things like sewing or knitting are now thought of as hobbies or “folk-crafts,” when they used to be a part of daily life. Cooking and gardening have become time-consuming and inconvenient — open a can and put it in the microwave, right? After all, we’re busy college students working on analytical papers about abstract concepts.

Delaney explained that the new generations are diverging into what he calls “knowledge workers and concrete workers.” By concrete, he means professions that involve physical skills or labor.

Although we could find these concrete abilities helpful, we don’t find a need for them, Delaney pointed out.

“We’re buying skills instead of making [things],” he said.

As mentioned before, this creates a dependency – on both sides. So we, as college students, have two options. Join the simplicity movement, which Delaney defined as a “harkening of old times,” where people return to their roots of self-sustainable living, instead of relying on other people to do the work for them.

Delaney offered option number two as relying on your college degree to support your lifestyle.
“Hopefully you make enough money to pay for the repairs,” he laughed.

Sarah Sanders can be reached at sarah.sanders@temple.edu.

Crime Report: Oct. 28

Click here to view this week’s crime map.

Oct. 19
1451 Cecil B. Moore Ave.
Campus Police arrested a non-Temple male on an outstanding warrant at midnight.

2100 N. 15th St.
Campus Police arrested a non-Temple male on an outstanding warrant at 1:45 a.m.

1199 Norris St.
Student reported juveniles threw eggs at her car, striking a student passenger in the head at 8 p.m. Oct. 17. No injury reported.

1851 N. 11th St.
Plastic window ripped on a 1998 Jeep and Sony CD in dash player taken between 7 a.m. and 9:35 p.m. Oct. 17.

Hardwick Hall
An underage student was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital by paramedics for treatment and observation of excessive consumption of alcohol. Referred to UDC.

Temple Towers
An underage student was transported to Temple Hospital by Campus Police for treatment and observation of excessive consumption of alcohol. Referred to UDC.

7-Eleven, Liacouras Walk
Manager observed a non-Temple affiliated male place a hamburger in his pocket and leave without paying at 1:58 a.m. Oct. 18. Manager declined prosecution.

945 Berks St.
Student reported an unknown person took his secured BMX bicycle and lock between 2:45 p.m. and 3 p.m. Oct. 18.

2146 N. Carlisle St.
Complainant reported an unknown person wrote on his car using permanent marker.

Hardwick Hall
Student reported an unknown person placed trash bins and a piece of wood in front of his dorm room door at midnight Oct. 19.

1432 Jefferson St.
Student reported an unknown person took her cell phone, wallet, passport, Pennsylvania ID card, debit/credit cards and health insurance card from her unattended purse between 12:30 a.m. and 12:40 a.m. Oct. 19 while she was at a party.

Johnson Hall
An underage student was transported to Temple Hospital by Campus Police for treatment and observation of excessive consumption of alcohol. Referred to UDC.

1926 Liacouras Walk
Campus Police arrested a student for underage consumption of alcohol.

1700 N. 11th St.
Rear passenger side window broken on a 1994 Mercury and iPod taken between 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Oct. 19.

2140 Watts St.
Rear driver side window broken on a 1998 Mercury and black air pump taken between 6:10 p.m. and 9 p.m. Oct. 19.

Oct. 20
945 Berks St.
Student reported an unknown person removed his secured mountain bike between 4 p.m. Oct. 17 and 7:35 p.m. Oct. 19.

2029 N. Broad St.
Campus Police arrested a Non-Temple affiliated male on an outstanding warrant.

1921 N. 12th St.
Student reported an unknown person removed his secured Mongoose bike between 7 p.m. Oct. 19 and 8 a.m. Oct. 20.

1900 Liacouras Walk
Student reported an unknown person made unauthorized charges on his Owl Card at various locations on campus totaling $66.57.

2130 N. 10th St.
Rear driver’s side window broken on a 2003 Ford between 1:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Oct. 20.

Geasey Field
Student reported an unknown person took her Dell laptop from her unattended back pack between 2:45 p.m. and 5:10 p.m. Oct. 20.

2119 N. 10th St.
Rear driver’s side window broken on a 2001 Honda between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Oct. 20.

1802 Liacouras Walk
Campus Police arrested a non-Temple affiliated male for possession of a controlled substance.

Oct. 21
Temple Towers
Student reported an unknown person removed his Xbox play system from his room between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sept. 30. No force found.

Edberg-Olsen Hall
Campus Police arrested a non-Temple affiliated juvenile male for burglary after he was discovered inside the building.

Subway Concourse at Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue
Student reported an unknown male forcibly took his iPhone while he was on the subway train at 10:45 p.m. Oct. 21. No injury reported.

2130 N. 13th St.
Window broken on a 2006 Toyota and nylon bags containing Nikon digital cameras and assorted photographic equipment taken between 6:30 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. Oct. 21.

Oct. 22
1951 N. 15th St.
Window broken on a 1996 Jeep, handicap placard removed, between 8 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. Oct. 21.

Student Center Food Court
Student reported that an unknown person removed his unattended backpack containing an Apple laptop between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Oct. 21.

1524 N. 15th St.
Student reported an unknown person removed his iPhone from his room between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Oct. 22. No force found.

2000 N. 13th St.
Student reported an unknown person removed his unsecured custom bike between 12:20 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22.

Oct. 23
1940 Residence Hall
Student reported receiving harassing phone calls between 10:05 p.m. Oct. 21 and 12:28 a.m. Oct. 23.

1530 Diamond St.
Student reported an unknown person stole his 2006 Honda between 11 p.m. Oct. 22 and 6 a.m. Oct. 23.

1840 N. 11th St.
Student reported an unknown person removed his secured Bianchi bike between 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Oct. 23.

1524 N. 15th St.
Student reported an unknown person removed his Acer laptop, laptop bag and a Polo bag from his room between 12:20 p.m. and 4:10 p.m. Oct. 23. No force found.

Regional Rail Station
Campus Police arrested a non-Temple female on an outstanding warrant at 5 p.m. Oct. 23.

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