GenEd is more than Core renamed, IH is out and Mosaic is in

Incoming students will never know Temple without the TECH Center, the newly renovated Johnson & Hardwick cafeteria, or the Tyler School of Art on Main Campus and their education won’t be complete without the new General Education courses.

GenEd is the replacement to the previous Core Curriculum that is now obsolete for students admitted to Temple for the 2008-2009 school year.

Previously, students took Core classes along with their declared majors.

To satisfy the GenEd requirements students must complete 11 courses under nine different areas within the curriculum.

The fields include Analytical Reading and Writing, Quantitative Literacy, Arts, Human Behavior, Race and Diversity, Science and Technology, U.S. Society, World Society and Mosaic Humanities, which replaced Intellectual Heritage courses that explored prominent literature from the past.

Core credits earned at Temple still apply to students who enrolled prior to this semester. Students enrolled in the Core Curriculum also have the option to take GenEd classes and have the credits applied to their academic records.

While Core classes and those under GenEd may look identical Terry Halbert, director of the GenEd program and member of the General Education Executive Committee, said courses are only similar by name.

“It took us years and years just to decide what could be changed,” Halbert said.

A series of “turf wars” as she called them, were fought between departments on who would get the changes and what would remain the same.

The decision to scrap the Core Curriculum came out of department chairs working with each other, and realizing professors often cross into other subjects within separate majors.

Some of the classes under GenEd were carried over from the original Core classes.

Halbert said it’s because it is still the same professors but a different way of teaching is being implemented.

“Within the last 20 years a lot of research has been done on how people learn and the conclusions showed that it is in groups trying to solve problems or work on issues that they think are important,” Halbert said.

Another new technique brought about by GenEd is that similar courses are offered by different departments. The basic concepts of the course are covered by different departments with some variation. The professor’s academic background is also a factor.

Professor Robert Yantorno teaches “Investing for the Future” in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. He said students in the past had difficulty locating the course.

“They use to look under the business school and would never think to look under Electrical and Computer Engineering,” Yantorno said.

During the planning phase of GenEd, incorporating Philadelphia into the new courses was important to GEEC .

The city is now included in seven of the nine areas with 34 classes offering interaction with Temple’s urban setting. Course range from studies of arts and culture originating here to the role of law and justice within Philadelphia.

“Truthfully, I’m really interested in building up this Philadelphia experience,” Halbert said.

Mickey O’Malley, a freshman film and media arts major, is enrolled in “Dramatic Imagination,” an Arts course. Students in the class will attend live plays throughout the city.

“If you’re not from the region it gives you a chance to learn the area better,” O’Malley said. “You get to hang out in Philly and earn credits.”

With the 2008 school year just beginning GenEd remains untested, but Halbert said the program is being taught at colleges and universities across the country.

“The GenEd reform trend is nationwide,” Halbert said. “Schools are changing their required curriculum to look at the ways different areas of study blend or mix.”

Greg Adomaitis can be reached at g.adomaitis@temple.edu.

TSG breaks in new Senate at first meeting

Temple Student Government left behind their old structure with their first Senate meeting on Monday.

The Senate contains representatives from each school and plans to meet the first and third Monday of the month. Its purpose is to fairly represent each school and serve the student body. It was established last year at the TSG Constitutional Convention.

“Greatness isn’t something found on a resume,” TSG Senate President Jeff Dempsey said in his opening words to the new Senate.

Dempsey emphasized the fragility of TSG, but also said the convention last year “set the goals that will lead to greatness.”

TSG Chief Justice Alex Herrera swore in the attending senators, asking them to affirm that they will do their “best to maintain the welfare of the student government and the student body.”

The Senate is broken up into four different committees: allocations, internal conflicts, government operations and university affairs.

Each committee discussed their purpose and gave their report.

The allocations committee deals with giving out the appropriate funds for each organization. The first deadline for allocations is Sept. 26.

The internal conflicts committee deals with the identity and morale of Temple students.
The government operations committee handles all the legislation of TSG, specifically the by laws and the Senate rules.

The university affairs committee helps with more concrete issues such as advising, faculty apathy, and environment issues.

“The senators are to act as the power broker between the students, schools, and administration,” Dempsey said.

Kylie Patterson, a junior political science major and university affairs committee member, presented the first recommendation for an ad hoc advising committee. This committee will be responsible for investigating the issues students face with advising and how best to address these issues.

The TSG Senate passed the recommendation unanimously after some consideration to ensure that all schools were represented in this investigation.

Rebecca Hale can be reached at rebecca.hale@temple.edu.

Crossing the finish line

It took the Temple athletic department 20 years to reestablish the men’s cross country team to the hill and dale four years ago.

And it may take the 2008 team a little more time to realistically compete for top finishes in the Atlantic Ten Conference after finishing in 11th place last year.

“I do see us [in the top seven or eight] if we keep our recruiting going and keep the young guys developing,” said first year coach Matt Jelley, the former cross country and track coach at Toms River North High School in N.J. “I got to keep my team realizing that it’s a process, one step at a time.”

The men’s cross country team has already competed in two events so far this season with a team that is primarily made up of freshmen and sophomores.

“Both were pretty good starts, it’s a nice way to get our feet wet,” Jelley said. “We look better this year, we keep moving up and getting new recruits in.

“[We have to] take each season one at a time, improve not only performance wise, but also change the athlete’s expectations of what we can accomplish,” he said. “We want to change the atmosphere of the program; the goal is to keep improving.”

On Friday, Aug. 29 at Mt. Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md., the team opened the season with a two out of three victories in the 5K duals. The runners topped Mt. Saint Mary’s (27-30) and George Washington (17-46), but fell to American (44-19), UMBC (39-20) and Maryland (32-24). Sophomore Michael May finished third out of 62 runners, finishing the course in a time of 16:13.66, falling short of first-place finisher Alex Lundy from the University of Maryland.

Sophomore Eric Conklin finished 23rd in the event, finishing with Temple’s second-best time of 17:08.41, followed by freshman Geoffrey Barletta who earned 25th place at 17:14.18.

On Saturday, in the midst of Tropical Storm Hanna’s final surge, the Owls came in second place at the Monmouth Cross Country Kickoff in Lincroft, N.J. Freshman Travis Mahoney, named the A-10 Men’s Cross Country Rookie of the Week for the week ending Sept. 8, finished in first place with a time of 19:23, while May finished second with a time of 19:28.

Conklin finished in sixth place with a time of 19:56. Temple finished with three of the top six finishers and as a team the Owls finished in second place beating Wagner (61), Monmouth (85) and Long Island (172), with a score of 48 behind Albany (44), finishing first.

The team’s next competition is the Monmouth Invitational on Friday, Sept. 19.

Tom Rowan can be reached at thomas.rowan@temple.edu.

Optimistic women’s soccer team ready to go

Temple women’s soccer coach David Jones has to feel optimistic about the 2008 season.

With a bevy of returning talent packing the lineup and the progressive tutelage that Jones and his staff offer the girls each year, the Owls feel it is only a matter of time before the tough losses suffered in the past transfer over into the win column.

Jones, who enters his sixth season as coach with a career record of 21-61-8, heads an Owls team that went 5-10-4 overall (1-8-2 in the Atlantic Ten Conference) last season and finished one spot above the basement in the conference.

However, 10 starters return from that team, and the added experience and trust among the players can only make for improved chemistry.

“Our goal is to go to the A-10 Tournament,” Jones said. “We’re young, but we hope with our schedule we can get organized and win some games.”

Leading the Owls once again this season are midfielder Jenna Rankin, forward Wendy Halina and defenseman Cori Gallagher, all seniors. Rankin, a 5-foot-6-inch native of Fairless Hills, Pa., finished third on the Owls in scoring with nine points a year ago—three goals and three assists.

She started every game and became the dual offensive threat for a team that had its troubles finding the back of the net. But even more so, she has become somewhat of an unspoken leader for the team.
“I think the seniors are my first recruit class here at Temple,” Jones said. “They have developed and will compete this season. Jenna has worked real hard this offseason playing in the [Women’s Premier Soccer League].”

“[The seniors] will be hard workers and I think they’ll be ready to step up to the challenge,” he added.

In addition to the veterans, Jones welcomes back an abundance of starters who have contributed to this rebuilding process, including goalkeeper Kara Williams and defenseman Liz Roper, both sophomores.

As a wide-eyed freshman, Williams started every game between the pipes for the Owls, posting a 1.49 goals-against average, including three shutouts. She also received A-10 All-Rookie honors.

“Kara had a great freshman year. She stepped up to the challenge,” Jones said. “This year, we hope to have a stronger back line to take some of the pressure off her. Our assistant coach [Dave Dixon] was a world-class goalkeeper, so she has a great coach. We’re excited about her sophomore season.”

Joining Temple from overseas this season are forward/midfielder Jessica Stenberg and midfielder/defenseman Tiia Kuokka, both eager freshmen from Sweden and Finland, respectively.

The Owls’ first A-10 contest is slated for Sept. 26 at Xavier. Along the way, conference rivals such as Charlotte and Fordham will also be tough tests. Jones, however, feels his squad is ready to take action in the league.

“It’ll be tough,” the Owls’ coach said of the conference schedule. “It seems like every team, every year is getting better. I think it will be a challenge to make the top six needed to get in the [A-10] Tournament.

“If we can get organized in the non-conference schedule, we’ll be fine.”

So now the question becomes, can the Owls revive a Temple program that has fallen victim to a few dismal seasons and earn back respect on campus, and more importantly, in the A-10?

“It’s going to come down to winning games,” Jones said. “We’ve got to step on the field and win games. If you don’t win games, at any level, you won’t get the respect.”

Bud Weaver can be reached at bud.weaver@temple.edu.

Men’s rugby squad fights to 3-1-1 finish

The Temple rugby team made a strong showing on Saturday at the Liberty Cup Tournament, winning three of its five games, and fighting another to a scoreless draw.

While the matches do not count as regular season games, they did provide a testing ground for new members of the team who had little experience.

In the first match, Temple took on Villanova, but neither team was able to score. In their next game against Drexel, the Owls won on a single, five-point try. Later in the afternoon, Ursinus defeated Temple in a close game that ended with a score of 5-0. The Owls wrapped up the day by defeating La Salle and Shippensburg, coming back from an early deficit in the latter game and taking control of the second half.

By the afternoon, heavy rain had an effect on play, though there were no delays due to weather. Mud made for bad footing, while the wet ball led to more missed passes.

The team fielded two squads throughout the tournament, taking the spot of another school that was unable to make the event. Both teams were primarily comprised of B and C team players, with starters occasionally mixed in.

Junior Gareth Jones, team captain for the Owls, said they are ready for the regular season and had aspirations of winning their league’s championship. Only a few players left the squad from the previous year, and other problems with players are no longer an issue.

“We were plagued with injuries last year,” Jones said. “Now we have a healthy team.”

“We’re going to build on new guys from last year. Last year we taught the game. Now we’re teaching the tactical aspect of it,” he added.

One of the players injured last season was senior Nolan Young, who was out with a broken collarbone. Young played aggressively throughout the tournament, knocking one opponent out of the way so hard that the player was left gasping on the ground while play continued around him.

Aggressive and physical play was not limited to one person, however. All of the Owls were willing to both make tackles and take hits. Senior Neil Deloggio was singled out by another player for “laying out one guy cold.”

Senior Tyler Rumsey, one of the starters for the team and a Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union all-star, said he thought the team would be in good shape for the season.

“We’re going to do well,” he said. “We only graduated one guy last year. We’ll build on the new guys from last year.”

While Temple rugby has had a limited practice schedule, the team can only practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays due to field availability and the university’s policy. Jones did not indicate that it was any sort of setback.

“During summer practice we were trying to do as much as we could with what we had,” he said.

Temple will play four games in the regular season, which starts later this semester.

Gregory Weber can be reached at gregory.weber@temple.edu.

Ignored program deserves more student support

Sure the pulse of the student body may be with the resurgent Temple football program. And, naturally, all of Temple athletics takes a backseat to men’s basketball. But while the basketball team has won less than 50 percent of its games since 2005, one program has won close to 65 percent.

It’s time to take a closer look into our own backyards.

This season, the field hockey team continues its winning ways. With two impressive shutout wins and a rain-soaked victory against No. 14 Boston University, the Owls opened up their 2008 campaign 3-0 for the first time since 2003.

On Sunday they suffered their first loss of the year to a challenging Ohio State squad and stand at 3-1. Currently they are not ranked but are receiving votes to be included in the NCAA’s Top 25.

Fourth-year coach Amanda Janney has given an identity to a previously mediocre program. And now it’s time to show more love to fall’s most successful sport.

The team has reached the Atlantic Ten Conference Championship semifinals in three consecutive seasons and looks to finally get over the hump and win it for the first time since 1994. The past 13 years have been filled with progress and achievements but unfulfilled postseason ambitions.

Last year’s remarkable 15-win season was overshadowed by a disappointing playoff knockout by Saint Joseph’s. The Owls took out the Hawks 4-2 on Oct. 27 to claim their first-ever A-10 regular season crown. On Nov. 2, that same swarm of Hawks delivered the Owls a crushing 3-2 defeat in the A-10 semifinals.

The Owls’ high-water mark was reached shortly before the postseason, when they were ranked No. 13 in the nation according to an NCAA ratings percentage index. Much of that national attention was a product of then-senior midfielder Alli Lokey.

The all-American dominated her competitors, netting 18 goals and 10 assists. It seemed like every clutch goal passed through Lokey’s stick. This time around the fire power will stem from a core group of capable torchbearers.

The heir apparent so far looks to be junior forward Charise Young, who has exploited the opposition for five goals in four games. It was a start that landed her A-10 Player of the Week honors.

Rounding out a standout trio of junior forwards are Mandi Ruth and Dannah Brehm. Through four games Ruth and Brehm have combined for six goals and four assists. Certainly the offense hasn’t missed a beat.

Brehm stormed onto the scene last year with a hat trick in the Owls 4-2 win against the Hawks. Ruth was fourth on the team last year in goals with four.

The defense is anchored by senior goalkeeper Erin Hanshue, who has been a fixture for the Owls between the pipes throughout the last three years. In 2007 she posted an .805 save percentage, good enough for third in the nation among goalkeepers.

Guarding Hanshue is formidable senior defender Mary Catherine Kinneman. The co-captain is working to influence a maturing assembly of fellow defenders. After posting two consecutive shutouts to start the season, the defense is doing its part.

Janney has been efficient in finding replacement parts on offense and defense. The team has been replenished with talent over the last several years, in part due to a strong area recruiting base and incoming transfers. A growing reputation for winning has also been a factor. This season, the team lured Hanshue’s sophomore sister, Kimmi, to reinforce the midfield. She is a transfer from West Chester.

This added depth will be necessary when the Owls take on some of the country’s finest teams, including Delaware at home and road games against Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State.

Your first chance to take a look at the Owls comes on Friday, Sept. 19, against Delaware. Where? At Geasey Field at 15th and Norris streets.

Take a walk over. You can’t beat the admission price — $0. Last year, the Owls went 9-1 on the home turf, so chances are high that you’ll see a victory.

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

Owls’ report card doesn’t make the grade

Quarterback
Considering the conditions, redshirt senior Adam DiMichele played a pretty decent game. The first of his two interceptions was not his fault, as the ball deflected off the hands of redshirt senior wide receiver Travis Shelton.

DiMichele also didn’t benefit from all the drops the pass catchers had, specifically Shelton’s drop on a bomb that could have easily resulted in a touchdown toward the end of the third quarter.

Overall, he came to play and showed off his athleticism by escaping a number of sacks.

Grade: B+

Backfield
Redshirt freshman Joe Jones and sophomore Marquise Liverpool combined to rush for 73 yards on 22 carries. Both are more athletic, east-west type runners and didn’t benefit from playing in the wet conditions.

However, this was a game where a team needed to rely heavily on its ground attack. And the Owls showed a weakness here.

Grade: D

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
When the weather allowed the Owls to pass, this group was as good as it was against Army.
But the drops killed, as did their inability to get open. Senior wide receiver Bruce Francis finished with just one reception for 20 yards, a number that should be better no matter how difficult it is to throw.

Grade: C-

Offensive Line
The Owls’ front five, headlined by redshirt senior center Alex Derenthal, protected DiMichele adequately, giving up just two sacks.

But sophomore left guard Derek Dennis was flagged a few times for holding, and the holes just weren’t consistently there for Jones and Liverpool to run through.

Grade: C

Defensive Line
This was the story of the game.

Connecticut redshirt junior tailback Donald Brown ran all over the Owls’ front four, totaling 220 yards on 36 carries. Senior quarterback Tyler Lorenzen added 77 of his own to compound the domination. The group also added no sacks and just two tackles for losses.

In short, it was really bad.

Grade: F

Linebackers
Junior John Haley had 15 tackles and an interception, junior Alex Joseph had 12 tackles and a forced fumble and sophomore Amara Kamara notched 11 tackles and the Owls’ lone sack.

Sure, the improved numbers were a direct result of the defensive line’s poor play. But results are results, and the linebackers did a decent job limiting UConn’s short passing game and keeping Brown from gaining double-digit yards on every play.

Grade: B-

Secondary
The unit lost senior Evan Cooper, Jr. to an injury early on but still managed to limit Lorenzen to just 86 yards passing.

The weather helped them out, as it put less pressure on pass coverage and more pressure on helping out the front seven. Sophomore free safety Jaiquawn Jarrett led the way with 12 tackles, and redshirt junior strong safety Dominique Harris chipped in with five tackles and a key fumble recovery.

Things were pretty solid here. They can’t be blamed for the 302 rushing yards the Huskies had.

Grade: B

Special Teams
Redshirt junior kicker Jake Brownell hit all three of his field goals, and sophomore Jeff Wathne hit two of his seven punts inside the 20.

But the return game featured nothing special, and they gave up a 31-yard punt return to sophomore defensive back Jasper Howard.

So there was some good and some bad.

Grade: B-

Coaching
It pretty much comes down to whether or not you think the Owls should have gone for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 34 at the end of the fourth quarter.

It was a risk. It didn’t work. But coach Al Golden doesn’t regret it.

Otherwise, the Owls came out in their usual shotgun, multiple wide receiver formations, but had to go to more running formations when the weather took a nasty turn.

That went against their strengths, but at least offensive coordinator Matt Rhule understood what had to be done.

Still, some kind of an adjustment should have been made about Brown.

Grade: C

Todd Orodenker can be reached at todd.orodenker@temple.edu.

Waterlogged Owls fall short

For the second year in a row, Temple lost to Connecticut following a controversial ending.

The bigger picture issues, though, were that the Owls didn’t help their cause with eight penalties totaling 85 yards and a run defense that gave up 302 yards on the ground.

With rainy, windy conditions throughout most of the game thanks to Tropical Storm Hanna, handing the ball off to the running back was a lot safer than attempting to throw it through the air and risk a turnover.

UConn tried that in the first half, but its senior quarterback, Tyler Lorenzen, didn’t have a lot of success.
In the second half, the Huskies came out and called 17 of their 34 offensive plays for redshirt junior tailback Donald Brown.

UConn pounded the rock for 174 yards in the first half, and its tactic worked even better after halftime. By the time the game was over, the Huskies had added 128 additional yards to that total.

“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit,” coach Al Golden said. “Obviously their game plan was to run the ball and they did it well. And they’ve proven it over time against good competition. Whoever it was last year, that kid ran the ball like that. And that’s what they’re committed to doing.”

The Huskies were committed enough to hand the ball to Brown 36 times for 220 yards, with Lorenzen accumulating 16 carries and 77 yards of his own.

In last season’s match-up, Brown only rushed for 54 yards, while his team as a whole gained only 156.
But that was against a Temple run defense that ranked No. 3 in the Mid-American Conference last season.

So far this season, that hasn’t been the case.

Army ran through the Owls’ defensive line for 223 yards on 58 carries in the Aug. 29 game.

The Huskies managed 79 more yards on three fewer carries, as Brown became the first Temple opponent to rush for 200 yards or more since Syracuse’s Damien Rhodes accomplished the feat in 2004.

“We were in the right calls,” junior linebacker John Haley said. “I guess a couple guys inside didn’t fill the holes. I know [Brown] was definitely breaking tackles. We just didn’t wrap up like we should have and bring him down. We should have tackled better.”

Haley was one of the bright spots for Temple’s defense. Along with junior middle linebacker Alex Joseph, sophomore defensive back Jaiquawn Jarrett and sophomore linebacker Amara Kamara, Haley was one of four Owls to total double-digits in tackles. He also had an interception, one of two turnovers caused by the Owls in the game.

Last year’s No.1 nationally-ranked redzone defense came through again, too, holding UConn to only two field goals until the game-winning touchdown scored in overtime.

“No matter how we’re playing, when a team gets in the redzone, we do not want them to score,” senior defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “We did a good job of executing in the redzone for most of the game. It just fell apart at the end.”

The end of the game was when that defense needed a stop the most, since the offense was only able to put up a field goal in its portion of overtime. Unfortunately, a defense that spent almost 60 percent of the game on the field cracked in the end, allowing Brown to run for 25 yards on three carries and into the end zone for the game-winning score.

“My defense was tired,” Golden said after the game. “But you’ve got to give [UConn] a lot of credit. I can’t say enough about coach D’Onofrio and his staff and what they did on defense, though.”

That defense will need to step up in the upcoming road games against Buffalo and Penn State, lest the high total of rushing yards allowed per game becomes a recurring theme.

Through their teams’ first two games, the Bulls and Nittany Lions are averaging 187 and 286.5 rushing yards per game, respectively.

The Owls’ defense can’t afford to let another opponent run all over them again.

Jennifer Reardon can be reached at jennifer.reardon@temple.edu.

Researchers link fat cells to diabetes

In a new study conducted by Temple’s researchers, “sick” fat cells have been found to link obese people to type 2 diabetes.

The study included 12 participants, six containing lean fat samples and six containing obese fat samples. A biopsy was conducted on each patients’ upper thigh area. Signs of abnormalities were seen within the obese fat cells.

“The results were clearly different in the fat samples of the obese than the fat in the lean participants,” said Dr. Guenther Boden, the lead researcher of the study. “The changes in the adipose tissue in obese people probably meant that the fat tissue in these people could not function normally.”
The adipose tissue’s main job is to store energy as fat, thus insulating the body. If the adipose tissue fails to do this, the extra calories consumed must be stored somewhere else.

The amount of adipose tissues must then be increased in order for the excess fat to be stored properly.

“Obese people have bigger fat cells,” Boden said. “An increase in adipose tissue can store this excess fat.”

The dysfunctional tissue in the obese patients can also be described as “sick” fat. When the fat tissue in a person’s body becomes “sick,” it causes the endoplasmic reticulum to malfunction.

“The endoplasmic reticulum is a quantity control organ,” Boden said. “Its major function is to make sure that proteins that are unfolded don’t get in other areas of the body or bloodstream.”

The endoplasmic reticulum is also responsible for synthesizing proteins, or translating them. When the endoplasmic reticulum becomes stressed, several proteins are produced, leading to the most probable cause of insulin resistance.

Boden determines insulin resistance as the main link between type 2 diabetes and people who suffer from obesity. Those who suffer from insulin resistance may also be more prone to a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.

Kylee Messner can be reached at kylee.messner@temple.edu.

Dept. chair brings change

Luis González del Valle has settled into the position as chair of the Spanish and Portuguese department.

Hoping to make numerous improvements, González del Valle has been at Temple for more than a year and is using his skills and experience to better advance the Spanish and Portuguese department. He has plans to recruit additional professional faculty members, establish administrative structures, design new courses, improve current courses and perform outcome assessments.

“We are looking at degree options and how they reflect what is going on elsewhere and how we can adapt that to our internal mission here at Temple,” González del Valle said.

This semester, the department is offering a six-week course with Spanish novelist and poet Ramón Hernández. Undergraduate students will have the opportunity to improve their Spanish creative writing skills by working with the author on creating poetry, narrative fiction and dramatic literature.
Typically this is an opportunity given only to graduate students, González del Valle said.

“I think it’s an amazing opportunity,” said Alex Mangroo, a junior Spanish major. “It’s definitely unique to have an actual author teaching and working with us.”

González del Valle has also arranged for numerous speakers to lecture in the course. He plans for a Chilean writer to make presentations.

“Through these procedures, we are guaranteeing the quality of what we do,” González del Valle said. “We need to do that for our students.”

The department currently has 160 majors and approximately 80 minors. González del Valle also plans on increasing these numbers in the next few years, as he did at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
González del Valle made the switch to Temple after over two decades in a similar position in Colorado.

He said he wanted to spend more time on the East Coast, particularly Philadelphia, and he was drawn to the unique culture and structure of Temple.

“People were so friendly and so open here. Philadelphia and Temple seemed to be a great place,” González del Valle said.

Born in Cuba and raised in a family of educators, González del Valle brings with him a passion for learning, cultural appreciation and love of language. His specializations include modern Spanish literature and Cuban culture.

With the implementation of the general education curriculum, González del Valle and the department has began a course titled World Societies in Literature and Film. The course fulfills the world society requirement and the Core Curriculum’s international studies requirement. For the Fall 2008 semester, there are two sections, one of which focuses on Spain and the other on Latin America.

“It is designed to introduce students to cultural practices in Spain through literature and film,” said Kimberly Vega, assistant professor in the Spanish and Portuguese department. “In the process, students also learn history, political science, art, and music.”

“I like it here,” Vega said. “I haven’t enjoyed teaching this much in a long time and I have fun.”

Kathryn A. Lopez can be reached at kathryn.lopez@temple.edu.

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