Poet encourages ‘uncreative writing’

Plagiarism is never tolerated. But for poet Kenneth Goldsmith, it is always on the tip of his tongue.
“You should go steal questions from other interviews,” Goldsmith said. “I’ve got a thousand interviews online. Seriously, take the best one, and put your name on it.”

It’s not the most common advice, especially from a college professor, but in Goldsmith’s class at the University of Pennsylvania, students are directed to transcribe, plagiarize, thieve and appropriate, all in the name of learning to write.

And his works are no different.

“The old type of creativity really isn’t very interesting,” Goldsmith said. “So by being uncreative, you form a new type of creativity.”

“His approach to teaching is completely bizarre and pisses a lot of people off, including his students,” said Nick Salvatore, one of Goldsmith’s former students. “But by the end, everybody is really happy with it.”

Goldsmith has made a life’s work out of representing the familiar in an unfamiliar context. His wardrobe is no exception.

Goldsmith’s handmade dark purple dress suit is covered with faintly colored hydrangeas. The ensemble matches his bright purple tie, striped purple shirt and purple fedora hat.

“I got into a fight with a couch, and I won,” Goldsmith said.

He’s just finished reciting a police interview and singing misunderstood lyrics at Temple University Center City campus as part of the university’s Poets & Writers series. It’s all part of the process he calls “uncreative writing.”

“If you look around at what’s held up as creative, most of the time it really isn’t,” Goldsmith said. “I don’t want to be that. I wasn’t always uncreative. I tried to be creative like everyone else. I failed. But it’s the failures that make things happen.”

And things have certainly happened.

Goldsmith is the author of 10 books of poetry. His most recent work is unofficially titled American Trilogy. It consists of “The Weather, Traffic and Sports,” which are respective transcriptions of a year’s worth of radio weather reports, a 24-hour traffic cycle and the radio broadcast of a Yankees game with the ads included.

Other works include a transcription of every word he spoke over the span of a week, every move he made throughout a 24-hour period and the retyping of every character from an August edition of the New York Times into a 900-page book.

“I write horrible boring books. No one should ever read them,” Goldsmith said.

He commonly refers to his following as a “thinker-ship” rather than a readership.

“Goldsmith takes the mundane and exemplifies the absurdity of language in certain contexts,” said Jackee Sadicario, a junior English and psychology major. “You never know how rhythmic the language of the weather reports are until you hear them chanted out loud.”

“Language is always poetic. We try too hard as writers,” Goldsmith said. “Who doesn’t understand a newspaper? Who doesn’t understand a ball game? They’re the dumbest things in the world. Everyone understands these things. They may wonder why, but they’ll understand the words.”

For those still unsure of how a traffic report could be transformed into poetry, Goldsmith broke it down even further.

“It takes regular language, and you hear it in a new way,” he said. “You hear the poetry in the everyday. “

“Initially, I found his work jarring,” Sadicario said, “but after a while, the rhythm of the traffic reports, the familiarity and repetition of the language becomes its own poetic device.”

When he’s not stealing others’ words, Goldsmith works on his other projects. Goldsmith is the founding editor of UbuWeb, an online archive of all things avant-garde. He is also the host of a weekly radio show on New York City’s WFMU-FM and a senior editor of PennSound, an online poetry archive.

“Look how easy it is to make a mark in literature,” Goldsmith said. “It’s a pathetic field we’re in.”
Yet the poet’s outlooks aren’t completely negative.

“There’s a new set of questions the next generation has to answer,” Goldsmith said. “You have to become a living, walking database for the language around you.

“It’s a beautiful problem to have, but you have to ask real questions about language. Dive into it, accept it, embrace it. Don’t try to be original – try to manage the language in an original way.”

“I’m through the hardcore uncreative phase,” Goldsmith said. “I could retype the world, but I don’t want to. I want things that are moving, exciting. I’m interested in the drama.”

Uncreative Writing, a book of Goldsmith’s own critical essays, is due from Columbia University Press later this year.

Jonathan Viguers can be reached at jviguers@temple.edu.

Vicarious Ventures: Use college to create adventure

Why are there no great college stories?

There is an infinite amount of adolescent Catcher in the Rye-type stories, and quarter-life crisis road trip stories make up 90 percent of film festivals everywhere. Where is the college story that spins your mind in circles as it tries to decipher the what and why of our time here? Is it that there is just nothing romantic about college?

There are, of course, plenty of great comedies about college. Maybe that’s because college is a joke. The most accurate college story I can think of is the Rules of Attraction, and all the characters in it are dead inside.

It’s ironic that all our lives, it is ingrained into our understandings of the world that we need this experience if we are to be persons of worth, but what we find when we get here is an emotional vacuum that sucks the fire out of us with huge impersonal lecture halls, binge drinking and escapist tendencies toward getting high.

I have planned and attempted in various stages to write about nearly every period of life I have experienced thus far, but when I look for the story here, I feel like I’m reaching for humanity inside of a machine. This machine was built to create an expensive but fun four-year experience, and we, the customers, are churned out four years later blinking in confusion at the brightness of the world, holding a paper that says we are educated. Everyone wins, except the guy who needs to get a story out of everything.

Now infamous adventurer, Christopher McCandless wrote, “The core of man’s spirit comes from new experience.”

I agree, and see in this precisely the problem with college. After the honeymoon stage of the first couple months, it began to remind me of that old stalemate feeling from high school. There has been no new experience here to make me feel alive and passionate.

I’m hereby refusing to accept the college grind. All life needs adventure to be worthy of remembering, so I am setting out to find the adventure at Temple and Philadelphia, too.

I have had a feeling for some time now at Temple. There is a world full of life around us that I haven’t yet discovered.

So from now on, each week I will set out on a different adventure. The stories from these adventures will be chronicled in this column. I will participate, join and observe all the adventures at Temple, hiding in plain sight.

Afterward, good or bad, I’m going to share my experiences with you, my audience, so we can all together have the essential college experience we were promised.

Greg Trainor can be reached at greg.trainor@temple.edu.

Energy boosters could be cause of heart failure

Energy drinks are a popular beverage among college students. Between keeping up with busy schedules and meeting heavy academic demands, students use energy drinks for work and play.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration-banned ingredient called Yohimbe is believed to be illegally laced in almost every energy drink on the commercial market. Yohimbe allegedly caused the death of two teenagers in Allentown, Pa., earlier in the month, as well as that of a sophomore from the University of Arizona.

Yohimbe is an extract from an African tree bark that was used as an aphrodisiac to treat impotency long before medications like Viagra existed. It was under investigation by the FDA prior to these incidents and banned from over-the-counter diet pills in 1993.

“[Yohimbe] has been added to a number of different over-the-counter medications where they are not actually labeling it or describing the dangers of the drug,” Dr. José Missri said.

Missri is a cardiology specialist at Temple University Hospital and a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Temple’s School of Medicine.

“It is a very dangerous drug because it’s not controlled by the FDA,” Missri said. “Some people respond differently to the drug. Frankly, I don’t see any advantages to using it at all. Serious toxic effects have been cardiac, where people develop severe high blood pressure or hypertension.”

“I don’t like energy drinks because they feel unnatural. My heart rate increases, and the way they taste is horrible,” junior communications major Sarah Weidner said. “I feel that something that speeds up your heart rate that much isn’t natural.”

Serious complications from the consumption of Yohimbe include heart problems like hypertension, severe high blood pressure, rapid heartbeats and other irregular heart rates. It can also lead to kidney failure and is associated with seizures, behavioral issues, tremors, episodes of anxiety and hallucinations.

Missri said in the most serious cases, Yohimbe can cause heart failure.

The less serious effects of Yohimbe include nausea and vomiting.

Missri said he was concerned that young people consume products in general without paying much attention to what is in them.

“Young people tend to do this because they really want to excel at sports or improve their performance without even having knowledge of any of these drugs,” he said.

Patricia Bertele, a sophomore university studies major, said she consumes energy drinks once every couple of weeks and has mixed them with alcohol and felt negative effects.

“I’ve seen people black out [from mixing alcohol and energy drinks],” she said.

Weidner said she is upset that the FDA is not more involved.

“The FDA doesn’t even regulate over-the-counter herbal supplements, so I’m not surprised they don’t regulate [energy drinks] either,” Weidner said.

The FDA provides a strategy for protecting food supply and managing recalls, but an FDA representative for food safety, who declined to disclose her name, said foods do not require FDA approval, and energy drinks fall into that category.

Pending the outcome of the ongoing FDA investigation, families of victims may have the right to take legal action.

Frank McClellan, a Temple health law professor, has substantial litigation experience in products liability.

“With most lawsuits, it will be filed as a personal injury action, which, for private individuals, is brought under state and civil law as a personal injury claim called a private tort lawsuit,” McClellan said.

In a Supreme Court case from earlier this month, the Court ruled it permissible for a person to file a lawsuit for not being informed about the dangers of a personal product.

“The manufacturer is obligated by law of federal stature to get approval before sharing the composition of a product. Once it’s approved, the company is supposed to admit any injuries to the FDA to determine if that personal product is allowed to remain effective,” McClellan said.

If a company fails to do this, then its products are subject to recall or can be discontinued.

McClellan said in terms of drugs and devices, the FDA requires companies to conduct animal studies followed by clinical trials.

There are three phases for the clinical investigations for untested drugs.

Phase one is the initial introduction of the new drug into humans to determine the metabolic and pharmacological actions of the drug and its side effects.

Phase two studies consist of initial controlled clinical studies.

Phase three studies further determine effectiveness and turn those findings into product labeling. According to the FDA, studies at this level could have up to several thousand human participants.
Weidner said she is unhappy with the lack of FDA intervention.

“I think that the company should be under probation where [the FDA] tests their products and looks at them a little more seriously,” she said. “Energy drinks are marketed like Coca-Cola, but I don’t think they should be considered that way because they are [a product] that has the effects of a drug.”

“I don’t usually drink [energy drinks] because they make me feel jittery,” said junior accounting major Allison Ashley. “But sometimes, when I get them for free, I do.”

The FDA does not comment on ongoing investigations.

Major energy drink companies like Red Bull and 5-Hour Energy also declined comment. Commercial energy drink companies have not issued any statements about the situation.

Missri emphasized the harmful effects of energy drinks over time on the heart and body.

“People have died over it,” he said.

Valerie Rubinsky and Joshua Fernandez can be reached at news@temple-news.com.

Under the Radar

WEDNESDAY, April 1
Gallery Talk

Imagination and Transformation in the Works of Maurice Sendak

Rosenbach Museum & Library
2008-2010 DeLancey Place

6 p.m., free with $5 student museum admission and RSVP to fdawson@rosenbach.org
215-732-1600
www.rosenbach.org

The Rosenbach is calling all Maurice Sendak fans to join the next gallery talk discussion, exploring the ways in which Sendak’s characters and stories undergo transformations. Sendak, author of children’s favorites Where the Wild Things Are and Outside Over There, excites his readers with his illustrations and his surprising connections to his characters. The gallery talk is held in conjunction with the ongoing exhibit “There’s A Mystery Over There: Sendak on Sendak” – the largest exhibit of Sendak’s works, ending May 3.

SATURDAY, April 4
The Big Reveal

Arts Bank at the University of the Arts
601 S. Broad St.
(Broad & South streets)
7 p.m., free admission with RSVP to robin@livearts-fringe.org
215-544-9195
www.headlong.org

Join the three co-directors of Headlong Dance Theater as they reveal their top-secret dance creations inspired by moderator and dancer Tere O’Connor. Using the same six dancers, the three co-directors will work separately for the first time in 15 years. Ideas from each performance will be taken to create a fourth work, which will premiere at the 2009 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe in September.

MONDAY, April 6
Christiny Martin

Play Development Series
The Wilma Theater
265 S. Broad St.
7 p.m., free

215-546-7824
www.wilmatheater.org

In collaboration with the Wilma Theater, Philadelphia Young Playwrights presents a free staged reading by Christiny Martin, an 11th grade student at Masterman High School. Her play tells the story of a young white civil rights lawyer, as he defends an African-American girl charged with murder during the 1970s in the Deep South. Martin found inspiration for her play through her studies of the civil rights movement in her 10th grade social studies class and began to develop the play last year as a part of the PYP’s summer Advanced Playwrighting Group. PYP works to promote literacy through playwrighting to students in the School District of Philadelphia and frequently works with professional theater companies in the city.

Sherri Hospedales can be reached at sherri.hospedales@temple.edu .

Professional Shame

Higher education is supposed to be just that: a way for aspiring students to continue their education to more in-depth studies. For many, college is essential to those who must learn skills necessary to excel in their respective careers.

The medical profession is one such career. Many people in the profession are literally the last defense between life and death. The medical profession is responsible for the betterment of millions of people’s health, which makes a decent medical school education all the more necessary.

Sadly, Temple’s medical school – and many other schools around the country – are failing to uphold this task.

As reported in The Temple News this week, Temple’s medical school received a D grade from the American Medical Students Association in regards to its faculty relations with medical and pharmaceutical companies.

This is not a new problem and certainly not limited to Temple. In fact, some of the best schools in the country have the same problem.

Harvard Medical School, which received an F grade, has recently adopted new strategies to help make its professors’ and doctors’ relationships with pharmaceutical companies more transparent. The relationships are important because companies often aggressively lobby medical professionals to consider their products. A professor could be swayed by the companies to ignore or gloss over problems with the drugs.

We commend Temple medical students who are striving to bring about changes for the betterment of their school. They, and the hundreds of medical students around the country who are pushing for the same changes, are an inspiring testament to our generation’s demand for accountability.

That said, the fact that these students feel the situation in their schools is dire enough to demand change reflects poorly on the schools. This change is being demanded by students, not wealthy or powerful interests with an axe to grind, so we can be assured of its legitimacy.

But why has the situation gotten this bad? Medical schools should never have allowed their faculty to take payments or perks from drug companies without disclosing them. In fact, why are doctors not setting up the walls themselves? It is only damaging their reputations, and at the worst, limiting their ability to be the competent professionals we pay them to be.

Pilates an effective, cheap way to get in shape

Working out has the potential to become tedious and boring when the same routine is repeated again and again. But, the IBC Student Recreation Center offers group sessions that allow members of all ages to change up their routines and make working out more fun.

The IBC offers a wide range of sessions that anyone may take, but Pilates seems to be one of the most popular. It’s offered at least once every day at varying times, making it easy to fit into students’ busy schedules.

The sessions, which last an hour, go through an array of moves, including the traditional “hundred” and “the plank.” All the exercise movements in Pilates focus on the “core” of the body and are controlled by certain breathing techniques that are supposed to improve not only physical health but mental health as well.

Movements in Pilates sessions are slowly executed but can be highly effective. Because Pilates tones and strengthens muscles without building bulk, it holds a reputation for giving its participants perfect “beach bodies,” and many celebrities practice the exercise regularly. Pilates can also improve flexibility and balance with stretching and certain poses.

Pilates sessions take place on the second floor of the IBC in group Rm. 2, which holds 30 people. Sessions that take place earlier in the day (like the noon to 1 p.m. session or those that take place in the wee hours of the morning) don’t fill up as quickly as others, so there’s no need to arrive too early.

Evening sessions fill up quickly, so a ticket system is used. Participants attending early evening sessions should arrive 20 minutes sooner than the scheduled time to ensure they receive a ticket for admittance.
Two types of mats are provided to any participants who wish to use them, but people may bring their own mats if they choose to do so.

“I just loved Pilates so much that I was recommended to teach it,” said Marie Pierre, a leader of the noon to 1 p.m. Pilates session on Mondays.

She is a Temple graduate who initially began in Yoga but transitioned into Pilates years ago.

Pierre can easily suggest modifications for those who have difficulty with certain moves.

Sarah Hughes, a sophomore psychology major, found the Pilates session to be relaxing yet challenging at the same time.

“For some of the moves, I don’t feel like I’m exercising,” she said, “but then, I’m sore the next day.”
The hour-long session is filled with leg and arm work.

Session participants include a mixture of people who vary by shape, size and age. Pilates sessions not only make it fun to work out, but participants may end up toning muscles they never even knew they had.

Stephanie Mullen can be reached at stephanie.mullen@temple.edu.

Local nonprofits, volunteers give back in tough economy

A recent headline in the U.S. Business category on MSNBC.com read: “More women going from jobless to topless.” The article implies a certain desperation in the current U.S. economy. The idiom goes, “desperate times call for desperate measures,” and perhaps those measures are becoming more acceptable as they become more widespread.

Professor John Sorrentino of the economics department called the crisis “fairly serious” and explained it will take time to resolve it.

The economic plague does not stop at the banks or the stock market. Students are feeling the burden of scarcity. Craigslist is practically barren when it comes to occupational opportunities; textbooks are no longer academic keepsakes but potential sales; loans seem more like risks than saviors when considering whether fall semester registration is possible.

The aforementioned article reminds Americans of the kind of trouble they face. Expressions of fear and desperation have become commonplace when discussing the recession. Even though economic solutions occupied a huge portion of the candidates’ platforms in November’s election, recovery does not seem to have reached most corners of the nation.

Some individuals and groups have taken it upon themselves to generate their own economic (and spiritual) sustainability. They remove their dependence on federal bonuses and trickle-down economics by participating in or coordinating nonprofit organizations that work to build up people and their communities. They work outside the government as cooperative structures based on volunteers and community support.

“The part I like the most [about the new administration] is the investment in infrastructures and education,” Sorrentino said.

These institutions may present a positive focal point for the country when considering viable solutions to the problem.

The Need
Causing rampant unemployment, failing markets and scarcity of resources, the recession has been hardest on those who already struggle. Programs seeking to eliminate these disparities and promote comprehensive economic development realize the increasing need for resources that are not only cheap and accessible but also healthy and useful.

Since food is first and foremost when it comes to survival, food banks and soup kitchens provide meals for those struggling with poverty and hunger. Philabundance is “the region’s largest hunger relief organization,” aiming to help low-income families. The organization collects donations from food industries and individuals, serving 600 neighborhoods through farmers markets, kitchens, neighborhood distribution centers and shelters.

Food banks have been historically owned and supported by their communities, Philabundance Director Bill Clark said.

“They’re a safety net for those struggling to put food on the table,” he said, adding that the number of people struggling has reached epidemic proportions recently, but the program provides a sense that the community is there for them. “It reduces the suffering [and] provides a link to greater society.”

Mahbubur R. Meenar, assistant director of Geographic Information Systems Operations and Research at Temple’s Center for Sustainable Communities, is also an adjunct professor in the department of community and regional planning at Ambler.

Meenar and other Temple affiliates in the Center for Sustainable Communities have joined forces with Philabundance to make the latter’s program more efficient, calling it the “Philadelphia Metro Area Hunger Relief and Community Food Access Study.”

GIS will help Philabundance identify areas of need more accurately, Meenar said.

The Function
One does not have to necessarily be “in need” to see the practicality of a nonprofit organization. There is a certain element to community-oriented programs that just makes sense.

“Part of the recovery program deals with renewable energy, energy efficiency and material efficiency we can foster at this time,” Sorrentino said.

He went on to call the situation a “win-win,” involving less impact and long-term solutions.

Neighborhood Bike Works began as a program of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and separated as an independent nonprofit almost 10 years ago. Based in West Philly, the program operates as a way to educate the urban youth on cycling and increase ridership.

“NBW clearly has a place in a depressed economy because we represent a cheap way to get around,” Executive Director Andy Dyson said. “Also, having healthy youth to begin with is great for the economy in that society doesn’t end up paying for the chronic diseases that result from people being overweight.”

The Bike Church, located at 3916 Locust Walk on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus, may be the most recognizable institution of NBW. This location has many donated bikes for sale. There are also adult and youth classes on building, repairing and maintaining a bicycle.

Dyson said a bicycle is practical, especially in a city where traffic congestion is routine. Cars can be a hassle and expensive. Even the wealthy can find use in a nonprofit like NBW.

“I’d still bike if I was making a million bucks, and I hope that other people will use bikes because of the environmental benefits,” Dyson said.

Thrift store shopping is frequently practiced by Temple students, hipsters and fashionistas alike.

Unfortunately, the city brings with it a pretension, and most used-clothing shops will fall under the euphemism “vintage boutique,” meaning retailers can raise prices on clothes that were sold to them cheaply or even donated.

This is not the case with Philadelphia AIDS Thrift on 514 Bainbridge St. About three years old, the nonprofit store donates an average of $2,000 every month to several of the AIDS fundraisers in Philly. The store receives donations from Bucks County, as well as New Jersey.

“People make a real effort,” said Tom Brenan, store manager.

The store is “pretty serious” about recycling, so “nothing gets thrown away.”

Brenan recognizes the simultaneous necessity and trendiness that exists in the AIDS Thrift. Some people go there “because that’s what they can afford,” but there are also typically younger shoppers who look to find something not in chain retail stores.

“We have punks next to grandmothers,” Brenan said.

The Message
The windows on the 1220 Spruce St. storefront read: “Give back to the people, not the banks and Wall Street!”

Developed by Uhuru Furniture and Collectibles in Center City, the ongoing sale campaign started before the turn of 2009. The message behind this sale points a finger at corporate America as the culprit for widespread disparities, specifically within the African-American community.

Manager Ruby Gittelsohn claims the government stimulus packages have only provided the banks with funds, which may never find their way to the surrounding community.

“[Banks] don’t create value, they steal value,” she said. “The resources shouldn’t go to the richest.”

“Uhuru Furniture is giving back to the people by making furniture affordable.”

Profits from the store go to the African People’s Education and Defense fund, which promotes sustainable economic development in African communities both locally and abroad.

Kristy Schneider, a Temple alumna, works at Uhuru.

In September 2006, she founded the Temple chapter of the Uhuru movement on campus, but membership never reached more than 10 people.

Despite the minor fallback, Schneider maintains a passionate outlook on her role as an activist and ally for African communities.

“I felt like I knew that I needed to work on issues that related to Africa and African people.”

Uhuru employee Lisa Burges sees the ongoing sale as ways to “give back to people who have supported us.”

The Uhuru movement is based across the country, working on setting up self-determined economic development projects like licensed community kitchens, recording studios and community gardens. These institutions strive to provide spaces for those underprivileged by the current system and allow them to create their own jobs.

Burges claimed that while other businesses were tanking with the failing economy, business Uhuru showed a considerable increase in 2008.

The Next Step
Nonprofits have opened an endless number of spaces for members of the community to fill. People work for people, instead of money. That said, there are a number of ways one can participate or support a nonprofit.

Monetary support would be the obvious one. Gittelsohn describes Uhuru Furniture, for example, as “perfect for students, from a shopper’s point of view.” Or, Temple students could visit the Bike Church to find a better way around the city or stop at the AIDS Thrift to pick out new earrings.

Donating can be just as helpful as buying. Though Sorrentino might even consider the latter as the chicken that has to come before the egg, “people have to create things of value for some reasonable reward.”

In other words, somebody had to buy it before he or she could donate it.

There is also continuous demand for volunteers.

“Without volunteers, we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are now,” Brenan said.

The AIDS Thrift first functioned solely on a volunteer basis.

Student volunteers have proved vital to NBW, putting in time as repairmen or class facilitators.
Philabundance is also looking for college students to contribute volunteer hours or facilitate a food drive on campus.

A majority of Uhuru’s volunteers are Temple students. They can volunteer at the store, in grassroots marketing or even at big events such as EarthFest April 18 at Clark Park, which will host a flea market, farmers market, speakers, performers and several workshops.

Clark sees a trend toward this kind of work: “More graduates are looking to work for more nonprofits.”
He understands that more young people want to “make a real difference.”

Gittelsohn sees value in doing something internally satisfying.

“So many people work at jobs, and they hate their jobs,” she said.

She sees Uhuru as an opportunity to “contribute to genuine change and economic development, not at the expense of the African community.”

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

Pattern repeats after elimination in 1st round

It happens right around mid-November. The critics get together and decide what college basketball teams can and cannot do. Temple basketball isn’t immune.

Would the men’s basketball team be able to replace Mark Tyndale and Chris Clark? Could Tonya Cardoza continue to lead the women’s team down the path Dawn Staley treaded?

Matching NCAA Tournament appearances and an Atlantic Ten Conference Championship for the men put most skeptics to rest — for now.

Here’s how both teams got back to the Big Dance.

November-December
The men’s basketball team hobbled through November looking for an identity. Minor injuries to senior center Sergio Olmos and sophomore forward Lavoy Allen limited coach Fran Dunphy’s squad. A numbing 68-52 loss to Miami (Ohio) in the Owls’ home opener would serve as a wake-up call.

“We’re definitely not where we’re supposed to be right now,” senior guard Dionte Christmas said. “Offensively, we’re there. But on the defensive end, we’re giving up way too many points and easy shots.”

The Cherry and White found some rhythm with a Dec. 6 road win against Penn State. With Christmas held to just two points, senior guard Semaj Inge cashed in with a career-high 19 points.

The signature win of the season came at home against then-No. 8 Tennessee. In front of a boisterous crowd, the Owls manhandled the Volunteers with the help of a Christmas scoring barrage. The All-American candidate had 35 points with plenty of scouts on hand.

A difficult road stretch (Kansas, Long Beach State and Villanova) put the Owls on a three-game slide, as they closed out 2008 with a 5-6 record.

The women were tested early with a difficult non-conference schedule. They lost on the road to Auburn, 95-76, Nov. 17 but bounced back against Illinois, winning 66-47. On Dec. 1, the Owls gave Rutgers a serious challenge, leading 32-21 at the half. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the Scarlet Knights, as Temple lost, 64-60.

The Owls also fell to Villanova, 65-56, Dec. 20, a loss that snapped an 18-game winning streak against Big 5 opponents. Still, the team managed to have a 7-4 record heading into 2009.

January
The men welcomed freshman guard Juan Fernandez to America Dec. 26 and introduced him to collegiate basketball Jan. 5. The Argentine chipped in with eight points and four assists in a 73-58 victory over Kent State. The headlining story of the night was the emergence of sophomore forward Craig Williams. Previously a regular on the bench, Williams sparked the starting lineup with 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting.

“It was just a hunch, just throwing Craig in there,” Dunphy said. “He had worked pretty hard over the last couple of weeks. He has that ability where he can make shots.”

The Owls promptly won three more games before conference play began. A tough road loss to Massachusetts Jan. 17 was righted with two cakewalks at home against Saint Louis and Charlotte.
A loss to Rhode Island and a win against Richmond put the team at 12-8 (3-2) heading into February.

The women played their busiest month of the year and also began conference play. The Owls’ offense kicked into gear against Rhode Island Jan. 14, as they netted 95 points and shot 58 percent in a landslide win.

“We thought it was time to prove ourselves and play all 40 minutes,” sophomore guard Lindsay Kimmel said.

February
The rollercoaster month saw the men’s team cough up any hopes of an at-large bid. The Owls started off with an 83-74 loss to then-No. 9 Xavier, then collected five straight wins. On Feb. 12, the Owls squeaked past city rival Saint Joseph’s. A 10-point Owls’ lead with 54 seconds to play turned into an unsuccessful last-second heave for the Hawks’ senior guard Tasheed Carr.

A shocking 70-63 home defeat to La Salle and ensuing loss at Dayton left the team at 17-11 (9-5).

The women picked up momentum in February, going 6-1 and winning games by an average of 12.3 points. The Owls went on the road and defeated a strong Charlotte team, 77-73. Then, they saved the month’s best game for last by beating then-No. 13 Xavier at home, 74-65. Cardoza became the first Temple women’s basketball coach to take down a ranked team in her first year.

“It was big because it keeps us alive,” Cardoza said. “We played three of the top four teams in the league and held our own. We put ourselves in good position for postseason play.”

March
The men cleaned up two easy wins to close out the regular season, finishing at 19-11 (11-5). Then they traveled to their favorite road arena: Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., for the A-10 Tournament. The Owls are 6-2 by the beach under Dunphy.

A convincing 79-65 takedown of St. Joe’s in the A-10 quarterfinals set the stage for two more do-or-die slates. The Owls got involved, but it was Christmas’ 20 points — and 3-pointer with 1:09 to play — that carried them to a 55-53 victory over then-No.19 Xavier.

Against Duquesne in the finals, Christmas delivered again by sinking 29 points in a 69-64 win.
Christmas nabbed his second consecutive Most Outstanding Player award of the Tournament. The Owls ended the season with a 22-12 record and were dancing.

Cardoza’s crew closed out the regular season by knocking off rival George Washington, 59-49. The win gave the Owls a second-place finish in the A-10 at 11-3.

In the A-10 Tournament, the Owls slipped past St. Bonaventure, 67-64, but fell hard to host Charlotte, 73-50. Cardoza finished the season with a 21-10 mark and an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
“I never thought that I’d have the type of season that I had,” Cardoza said.

Both teams then fell in the NCAA Tournament, with the 11th-seeded men losing to sixth-seeded Arizona State, 66-57, in Miami. The ninth-seeded women couldn’t get past eighth-seeded Florida, losing 70-57 in Storrs, Conn.

Anthony Stipa can be reached at anthony.stipa@temple.edu.

GenEd rightfully requires more diversity in course load

The Core Curriculum faced a lot of controversy among students. It’s a pain hearing about it and scheduling it, let alone actually sitting (or sleeping) through the courses. It feels a little like entering the 13th grade instead of a diverse, thriving college campus like Temple’s.

While students who entered Temple before 2008 have no hope of ever avoiding the Core, students who entered in the Fall 2008 semester and onward don’t have to worry about it.

This year was the first run of Temple’s General Education curriculum, the bulk of classes students are required to take before graduating. GenEd replaced the Core, and students are a lot better off.

Although criticized, this move creates a more diverse learning experience for students. This is fitting, given Temple’s claim of being one of the most diverse universities in the country.

GenEd looks much like the Core, which previously required students to acquire a specified number of credits in certain categories.

Prior to the switch, students were required to fulfill credits in standard categories like the arts, science and math. The most diverse of the categories were Studies in Race and International Studies. Now, new categories have been introduced like Human Behavior, Race and Diversity and World Society.

Within these categories, students take classes that emphasize the interconnectedness of various concepts, like race, gender and human behavior, and how these concepts relate to the real world.

The overlapping of concepts within the GenEd curriculum requires students to learn a little bit of everything. With the old Core, a student was capable of graduating without ever taking a course in women’s studies. Now, it’s nearly impossible for a student to take a course that does not somehow delve into the topic of gender.

For instance, the course Gender Issues in Science and Technology falls into the Science and Technology category. Take this course along with the Chemistry of Wine, and you can conquer an entire category worth of credits. Gender and wine? It’s like being on a semester-long date.

“[GenEd] is more hands-on,” said Terry Halbert, director of the GenEd program. “[The faculty] made a decision that we needed to change the way we teach – not just what we teach, but how we teach.”

Halbert said critics of the GenEd program have complained that when classes explore diverse topics within standard subjects, students aren’t getting the general knowledge content they need.

“We’re trying to help our students walk out of here with capacities and attitudes, not just facts and information,” Halbert said in defense of the program.

One aspect of the GenEd program is the “Philadelphia Experience,” a recurring theme that focuses on combining knowledge learned in class with experiences within Philly.

Last semester, undeclared freshman Molly Grace was enrolled in Creative Spirit, a theater class that fulfilled her GenEd art requirement.

“We had to go on a bunch of different excursions throughout the city,” she said.

As far as her major is concerned, she said, “[GenEd] is definitely helping me to explore which subjects I like and don’t like.”

Living in Philadelphia, attending Temple and being required to take a diverse course load creates an environment in which students really can’t escape diversity. That is exactly how it should be.

Leah Mafrica can be reached at leah.mafrica@temple.edu .

Former football player opens restaurant

To say that Raheem Brock’s life has come full circle would be an accurate summary of the Temple graduate-turned NFL athlete’s career.

The man who dedicated four years of college to playing hard for a team that didn’t win many games is now a major contributor for the Indianapolis Colts, entering his ninth professional season with a championship to his credit.

Brock, who balanced football with working multiple jobs while in college to provide for himself and his family, can now sit at a table at Wingstop, a restaurant he owns across the street from his alma mater.

“A lot of things happened growing up in Philly,” Brock said. “A lot of ups and downs, a lot of distractions, a lot of violence. I came to school and had to work two or three jobs to provide for my mom and my two daughters I had by that time. But the only thing I knew how to do was work hard.”

Since graduating from Temple in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in business management, Brock has moved on from the struggling life he once led in Philadelphia, but he has not forgotten or left behind the city and people who helped get him where he is today.

Brock, who was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles but released when the team did not allocate enough money in its rookie salary pool, plans to open at least two more restaurants in the city within the coming years, adding to his multiple Philadelphia-based philanthropic efforts.

“I know how hard it is to be successful, so I just feel fortunate,” he said. “Since I had so much help, I like to come back to inspire young kids and try and influence the younger generation.”

The athlete who comes from struggle, makes it big and returns to his city to give back, is a story told many times over, and one that is sometimes not as good as it seems.

But Brock, as much as anybody could, truly cares about his city.

“I spend about six months out of the year here,” Brock said. “During the season I come back whenever I can, to talk to kids, work with my foundation, anything I can.”

Brock’s foundation, Brock’s Kids, recently sponsored a personal tour of the Indianapolis Colts’ stadium, field and locker room for a Philadelphia high school football team.

Although Brock may be playing in his prime, his focus goes beyond football.

“I’ve got a lot of things in my mind. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here with all the wear and tear on my body,” Brock said. “You wake up pretty much every morning during the season, and your body is killing you. I love this game, and I’ll play as long as I can. But I always tell people, it’s important to have something to fall back on.”

The fact that things never came easy for Brock has worked to his credit. He said things are not “just what you see on Sundays.” In fact, he could relate it to the years he once spent in school.

“One of the hardest parts of playing this game is studying,” he said. “It’s like you’ve got a final every Sunday, and you get new material every Monday, to prepare for a different team every week. I usually work from 8 a.m. until 6:30 at night. You have to work hard because everybody is trying to take your spot every year.”

Brock’s hard work does not end on the football field. He said he has talked with Mayor Michael Nutter about future initiatives for his foundation, and he has his annual celebrity birthday weekend planned in June, where he will celebrate his birthday, as well as have football camps and a bowling fundraiser. And although nothing is set in stone yet, he plans to use his business knowledge to do more things in the future.

“Football is just a stepping stone, like anything in life. I always wanted to open a business since high school, didn’t know what it was though,” Brock said. “Now I have [Wingstop], and I hope to get into things like real estate in the future. I just feel blessed to be able to come home and feel like the city still has my back. And to have a business on my old college campus – it’s amazing.”

For the immediate future, Brock hopes to add a little more of himself to the restaurant.

“I’m gonna try and do some redecorating and add some of my jerseys and other Temple guys that played in the NFL. Just give it a little more of a sports atmosphere,” he said.

Although Brock is often around at his restaurant checking up on things, it would probably be best if he stayed away a little more than he does.

“Man, I try and stay away from here because I’m on my diet, and I just started training and stuff,” Brock said, laughing. “But it’s hard. These wings are addictive.”

Gabriel Katz can be reached at gabriel.katz@temple.edu.

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