Decking City Hall

Nestled between City Hall and TUCC, the annual Christmas Village presents an array of diverse shops and vendors to help fulfill your holiday entertainment and shopping needs.

If Christmas lights, decorations and ornamented trees make your heart flutter, a great place to further put you in the Christmas spirit is Christmas Village, located at City Hall in Center City. It’s also a great place for Temple students to get some holiday shopping finished before they return home to see family and friends during winter break.

Christmas Village, presented by the German American Marketing Inc., part of the German Society of Pennsylvania, is an annual outdoor holiday marketplace. This medieval market, featuring more than 50 vendors that set up shop in wooden houses surrounding Dilworth Plaza, sells one-of-a-kind keepsakes, European food and sweets.

A young woman working one booth, featuring a collection of handmade leather purses, belts and journals, said a husband-and-wife team from New York City handcrafted everything at the stand. The pair, whose line is named Paul Aude Handbags, participates in several outdoor marketplaces across the United States and in Canada.

These leather accessories, each of which is unique and beautifully crafted, are priced from $20 to more than $150. Despite their high cost, these goods were some of the less commercial items Christmas Village had to offer. And, if you’re too bogged down with finals to check out the Christmas Village this year, you can purchase a wealth of Paul Aude products online, by visiting audeandamy.com.

Bowl Maker, based in Chalfont, Pa., offers a collection of wooden art and bowls. Every one-of-a-kind piece is air-dried and hand turned and are also available online at bowlmakeronline.com. The intricate details in these bowls and wood art pieces, most of which are priced fairly high, create beautiful color and texture not found in traditional art pieces.

Friction Jewelry New York displays an array of handcrafted, real stone rings, charms, cuffs and necklaces at Christmas Village. Unlike most jewelry vendors there, Friction Jewelry offers well-made items that nearly any jewelry lover on a holiday list would be in awe of.

The stand also has hammered leaf necklaces and charms, which can offer some interesting alternatives to regular costume jewelry. Friction’s prices were fairly affordable, with a charm or necklace from the True Leaf Collection – which uses electroforming, a process by which real leaves are coated with a special copper base paint and then dipped in 24K gold or sterling silver – costing a buyer anywhere from $24 to $39.

Christmas Village Grilling Booth serves up the classic German bratwursts, with or without the sauerkraut. Bratwursts are German sausages, usually eaten with sauerkraut or potatoes.

Lebkuchen and Stollen serve a wide range of German Christmas desserts. Lebkuchen are gingerbread cookies, and stollen is the famous German holiday cake. Lebkuchen and Stollen also offer cinnamon stars and spekulatius, traditional German spice cookies.

Christmas Village will be open until Christmas Eve, with scheduled daily performances by Philly artists and bands.

No matter what holiday you celebrate, Christmas Village can be a great place to find something for that special someone this season and a chance to enjoy the winter air in one of the best parts of the city.

Zina Reed can be reached at reed.zina@temple.edu.

TUCC students face parking issues

Validation system problems recently caused headaches for TUCC students. Management is working to correct them.

Students who take classes at TUCC recently found themselves forced to pay $8 more for guaranteed discount spots at the Centre Square garage at 15th and Market streets.

In an e-mail sent to TUCC students the last week of October, Associate Director William Schreiber addressed technical difficulties with the validation process for the garage. Some students who have parked there after 3 p.m. on weekdays or during weekends, times when discounted parking in guaranteed, were being charged $13 instead of $5, according to his e-mail.

If the price comes up as $13 after inserting a validated ticket, Schreiber urged students to cancel their payment and notify a Central Parking employee to have their ticket knocked down to $5.

Centre Square Parking Manager James Urso noted the efforts he and his staff went through to alert students about these technical difficulties.

“[Central Parking employees] have posted signs on the payment machines reading ‘Attention Temple Discount Parkers,’ which provide specific directions on how to correct the miscalculation,” he said. “More importantly, we have provided TUCC with discount validation tickets to use until the technical problem is properly diagnosed and corrected.”

This technical difficulty has added to the frustration TUCC students are experiencing with the Centre Square Garage. Other than this malfunction, many students expressed dissatisfaction with its fare rates and parking times.

Central Parking charges $5 a space for Temple students for parking between 3 p.m. and midnight weekdays and up to 12 hours on weekends, Urso said. Before 3 p.m. weekdays, students must pay the regular fees to use the garage.

“I think [the fare] should be $5 all day, especially during the SEPTA strike,” senior human resource management major Joe McEvoy said, adding that he does not like the rule that students cannot park at the discounted rate until after 3 p.m.

Senior Elina Shklovin echoed McEvoy’s opinions. Shklovin, also a human resource management major, said she was frustrated with parking at TUCC.

“Spots are tight,” she said, adding that the time rules for discounted parking were an inconvenience.
“I think it should be open from morning until night because people who have night classes have to come in early to do assignments, and it’s not fair to make us pay $29,” Shklovin said.

Other than these issues, students have much to complain about. Urso acknowledged he and employees received complaints from students regarding the TUCC security staff, claiming they have refused to validate their ticket which had correct entry time and a valid Owl Card for identification.

Schreiber said he was unaware of these complaints. He stressed the rules set in place, which prohibit students from using the parking garage at its discounted rate for anything other than Temple-related activities, including class, faculty appointments, meetings and lab use.

Senior risk management and insurance and legal studies major Kendall Givens said she recently started taking advantage of the discounted parking at TUCC and was thankful for the garage.

“I wish it was free, but it’s OK,” Givens said. “At least it’s a place where we can park for just temporarily.”
The Centre Square garage is privately owned and managed by Central Parking, but has a partnership with TUCC. Another garage in the area, Expert Parking’s location on Market Street at 17th Street, also offers the discounted rates to students for night and weekend parking at TUCC.

“[The partnership between the Centre Square garage and TUCC was] probably based on location and convenience to TUCC,” Urso said, noting that he was unsure of its actual origin.

Schreiber said the garage is very beneficial to TUCC students.

“Temple has had a relationship with Central Parking for many years, and there have been very few problems,” he said. “When I distribute the parking information over the TUCC student listserv at the beginning of each semester I often receive replies from students saying how much they appreciate the discounted rate of $5.”

Lena Van can be reached at lena.van@temple.edu.

Two sides taking advantage of bikes

Bicycle use may be on the rise in the city, but so are the number of thefts.

When Temple decided to eliminate the shuttle to TUCC, I, along with many other students, was forced to find a way to get to class. That’s when my bike came in handy.

Several weeks ago, however, my bike was stolen from the bicycle rack near the TUCC building at 1515 Market St. An hour earlier, the bike was tightly locked and placed along with others. What’s most disturbing about this incident is that it happened in broad daylight in the heart of the city, adjacent to City Hall. That’s one bold move on the part of someone who doesn’t seem to care about being caught or facing consequences.

In fact, I was baffled by the number of criminals bold enough to steal.

According to the Philadelphia Police Department’s interactive crimes map, the total reported number of bicycle thefts from Center City in the last month stands at 200.

On the national level, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports Web site says more than 6.5 million cases of larceny theft occurred in 2008. When those numbers are broken down, 3.4 percent of all cases were related to bicycle thefts, followed by a large portion of stolen motor vehicles and accompanying break-ins.

To make matters worse, Kryptonite, a company that makes hefty bike locks, released its annual “Top 10 Worst Cities for Bike Theft” list.

While Kryptonite’s national ranking is unofficial, Philadelphia outranked all others on a nationwide scale. The company concluded in the statement, “When we did the compilation, there wasn’t even a city close to Philly. Not even close.”

As someone who has lived in the city nearly two years, I’ve learned how important bicycles can be in simplifying our lives. Struggling students are constantly trying to do anything to avoid paying those subway or bus fares.  It’s true; when mom stops cooking, finding ways to save a precious dollar becomes a priority.

I often take my bike everyday to South Philly, where I work. With all the traffic and frequent stops at every single red light, I get to work much faster on bike than by car or bus. In addition, if talks between SEPTA and the Transport Workers Union Local 234 fail and they decide to go on strike, bikes could save the day.

After my ordeal, I purchased another bike for $180 and immediately registered it with the Temple Police. In turn, I received a free U-lock.

Sergei Blair can be reached at sergei.blair@temple.edu.

Students react to hot-button TSG issues

Transportation figures high among the issues TSG is facing. Students sound off about it.

At Sept. 28’s Temple Student Government State of the Campus address, President Kylie Patterson and Vice President of Student Services Jon DeSantis presented the assembly with new information and TSG’s goals for the new school year.

The new student administration faces the hot-button issue of university transportation services, since Temple discontinued its regular TUCC shuttle last month to keep tuition lower and Main Campus greener.

Following the announcement, DeSantis said TSG was working to provide discounted transportation via SEPTA for students with internships.

In regard to all the talks of transportation alternatives, students expressed a variety of views.
“The Center City shuttle should be reinstated because not only do many students go to [TUCC] for classes, [but] the city is the reason why many students, myself included, have chosen Temple,” junior Spanish major Dana Blechman said in an e-mail.

“It would be extremely convenient to have a free and easy mode of transport to Center City,” she added, “so students can spend [time] there regardless of whether or not they can afford to take SEPTA.”

In terms of a potential service for students with internships, Blechman said she doesn’t think transportation compensation should be limited.

“Temple students should either get free or discounted TransPasses, not just discounts on semester TransPasses,” she wrote.

Others were supportive of the transportation issue and of the TUCC shuttle bus cut, specifically.

“Personally, I never used the shuttle, but I think the subway is cheap enough so that if this cut truly helps in keeping tuition low, then I think it’s worth it,” sophomore music education major Alyssa Endrich said.

Other students seemed to be less concerned with transportation between Center City and Main Campus and more concerned with students who commute from outside the city each day.

“I think commuter students need to be considered because they have to come back and forth between campus and their homes,” Nadir Munir, a freshman accounting major, said.

TSG Senate President Jeff Dempsey said the decision-making committees are faced with complicated issues when tuition and transportation come into play because unless students on the committee are affected, the weight of an issue can often go unrealized.

“Transportation is not as simple as just running a bus,” Dempsey said. “It’s bad that the cut happened, but the good that came out of [the cut] is that people are paying more attention now.

“This could be a way for students to galvanize and allow TSG to flex its muscle.”

Dempsey said possible future alternatives could include talks between TSG and SEPTA to try to have student fares lowered in light of the situation. He said a discounted service program for students with internships is still in the works.

Student-service issues aside, Patterson said one of her biggest goals is to motivate students to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible and for them to go beyond the classroom in preparation for life after college.

“When I was a freshman and saw someone get their first internship, I was so impressed that I knew I wanted the same things,” Patterson said. “After I got my first internship, I realized that I want to give students the same agency I benefited from.”

Bryan Mann, a sophomore Jewish studies and political science major, said this is a great goal but said he realizes there are complications.

“It would be awesome [for all students to get involved], but sometimes things get in the way,” he said.
But Patterson said she still believes having the university’s students flood the job and scholarship markets is the best way to improve the value of their degrees.

“Gaining access to resources isn’t easy. It’s like trying to open an oyster,” she said. “It’s really difficult. Pushing yourself to apply for something is not easy, but it pays off.

“When you open an oyster it’s crazy work. You have to get a shucking glove and knife and sometimes, you cut yourself. But when you finally get it open, you have this ultimate sense of satisfaction,” she said.
“All cuts will heal,” Patterson added, “and opening that oyster, getting replies from jobs, internships and scholarships, will be very rewarding.”

Joshua Fernandez can be reached at josh@temple.edu.

Students pay price for elimination of campus shuttles

Many students are forced to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for transportation since Main Campus shuttles to Center City will no longer run.

Though it’s been more than a week since Temple announced the discontinuation of free shuttles to TUCC and the School of Podiatric Medicine, sophomore Adebusayo Adewole remains disheartened.

“I was very upset, and I still am very upset,” Adewole, a business and risk management major, said. “There’s a lot of money coming out of our pockets already.”

Hillel Hoffmann, assistant director of university communications, said the decision to halt services came after considering the potential savings for the university, ridership and alternative modes of transportation for students. Paid for by the university’s operating budget, the elimination of Center City shuttles and weekend and late-night service to Ambler Campus will save Temple $247,000.

“The university wanted to do everything it could do to have historically low tuition and keep financial aid as high as possible to help families,” Hoffmann said in reference to the 2.9 percent tuition increase decided last May.

The shuttle services were “indentified as a potential area of savings in March/April 2009,” Hoffmann said. A final decision was not made until the day of the press release, Aug. 28. The information was later distributed via the electronic Temple Today newsletter on the first day of classes, Aug. 31.

Freshman Allison Ripa was told during her April “Experience Temple” day that free shuttle services would be available to students taking classes at TUCC.

Likewise, Lena Van, a sophomore English major who transferred to Temple from Rutgers University, was told there would be a shuttle to take her to her Survey of American Literature class in Center City.

“I was disappointed in the university because on the second day here, my friend and I decided to explore [TUCC],” Van said. “But no one could tell us where [the shuttles] were, not even the bus drivers.”

The next day, when seeking departure times for TUCC to attend her class, Van found out the services had been discontinued.

“It’s clear the university could have done a better job communicating to students,” Hoffmann said.

While Hoffmann said “the shuttle bus drivers monitor the ridership constantly,” Temple could not provide day-to-day ridership statistics. Low ridership was one of the three factors considered throughout the decision-making process.

Another factor, alternative modes of transportation for students, was heavily weighed. The university looked at other mass transit options, such as the SEPTA C bus and Broad Street Line, to TUCC and TUSPM and decided “if Temple is going to provide bus transportation, it’s going to go to the place most far away,” Hoffmann said.

The Ambler Campus is located approximately 15 miles from Main Campus, at 580 Meetinghouse Rd.
Aside from the university’s shuttle service, students can utilize SEPTA’s Regional Rail system but must rely on a car to travel the remaining distance to campus from the R5 train station.

However, just as the university is trying to save money, so are students.

“I came home one day, and my roommate looked so confused,” Adewole recalled. “She has class in Center City every day, and she’s not working.”

Adewole was enrolled in one of the 177 undergraduate classes the campus is offering this semester – TUCC also services 92 graduate courses – but convinced her professor to allow her to take Statistics for Business on Main Campus after she discovered the services were eliminated during the first week of classes.

“It’s a class I’m required to take for graduation, and I had to beg the professor to let me take his class on Main Campus,” she said. “But it’s Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 a.m. Not a lot of professors are nice like that.”

Van also dropped her TUCC course, opting to substitute it for a class offered on Main Campus.

“I think it’s nice they want to keep the tuition low, but I think they should still make [shuttle services] free,” she said, adding that she transferred to Temple because of its positive reputation and low in-state tuition. “But it’s also important for kids to go to class, and if they have to pay for it, they won’t go.”

Despite a similar attitude among many discontented students, Hoffmann said “the reasons for instituting this change remain.”

Apart from cutting costs and in accordance with the university’s climate commitment – President Ann Weaver Hart signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment in April 2008 – Temple said discontinuing the services will “promote sustainability,” according to the press release.

“Temple became committed … to taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Hoffmann said in an e-mail. “Increasing the Temple community’s use of mass transit is a critical part of that.”

A member of Temple’s Students for Environmental Action, Korin Tangtrakul said she is unsure how beneficial the discontinuation of the shuttles will be to the environment due to students’ inclinations to drive to class instead of taking SEPTA.

“Temple’s greenhouse emissions in transportation will be lessened,” Tangtrakul, senior environmental studies major, said, “but this would be reversed if students take their own cars.”

For now, Adewole said she is disregarding Temple’s sustainability claim and hoping for a change in the university’s decision.

“People use the shuttle busses more than anything,” she said. “Even if it’s not every day or every hour, something is better than nothing.”

Ashley Nguyen can be reached at ashley.nguyen@temple.edu.

Counting change

With shuttles running to TUCC and TUSPM discontinued, it’s up to students to utilize alternative modes of transportation, no matter the cost or travel time.

Students out of loop on shuttles

Citing budget cuts and sustainability, Temple chose to discontinue its hourly shuttle services to TUCC and TUSPM without communicating properly to current and prospective students or considering requirements for students’ majors.

On Aug. 28, three days before the start of the Fall 2009 semester, Temple informed students of the termination of its shuttle service from Main Campus to TUCC and the School of Podiatric Medicine.

Students who are registered for classes at TUCC, located at 1515 Market St., may be forced to pay an extra $90 or more this semester for SEPTA rides to and from Center City.

I dropped a TUCC class, which I need in order to make progress in my major, from my roster because I can’t afford to take SEPTA twice-weekly. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.

In addition to the cancellation of shuttles to TUCC and TUSPM, located at Eighth and Race streets, weekend and nighttime shuttle service to Ambler Campus has been cut.

According to a Temple News report, Temple has been weighing the option of cutting the TUCC and TUSPM shuttle services since April 2009, but no one outside the Office of the Vice President of Operations was made aware until the press release was published Aug. 28.

“It’s clear that the university could have done better communicating with students,” Hillel Hoffman, assistant director of university communications, said.

Temple’s Owl Ambassadors, who give guided tours for potential students and their parents, were even left out of the loop. Their pitches this past summer followed the same format they have since the TUCC shuttle’s inception in 2002: Temple has a campus in Center City, but don’t worry – the university provides free transportation.

Adrianne M. Gerth, the senior admissions counselor for Temple, confirmed that when asked about transportation to TUCC, Owl Ambassadors told potential students a shuttle would be available.

Service to TUCC and TUSPM were halted in an effort to “cut costs and promote sustainability,” according to the press release.

The university said the fact that students have other transportation options like SEPTA’s Broad Street Line and C bus, low ridership on the former shuttles and a potential savings of $247,000 were all factors in the decision.

There’s a difference, though, between cutting unnecessary costs for the betterment of the university and placing extra costs on students who are already struggling to pay tuition.

Administration said Temple’s historically low tuition increase was another reason for the cut.

Two-hundred forty-seven thousand dollars sounds like a lot. But split among Temple’s approximate 36,000 students, $247,000 would amount to an approximate tuition hike of $6.86 per person.

The university’s “low ridership” claim is arguable as well.

“It was definitely popular,” Sam Yun, a senior criminal justice major, said. “Sometimes, I had to wait for the second bus to come because it was so crowded on the first one.”

Lucia Rosario, a shuttle driver for Temple, said the buses were “very busy.”

The same required classes for Main Campus majors are offered at TUCC, and as of now, Temple has not made an effort to compensate students who are coughing up cash just to reach their classroom locations.

Junior psychology major Leah Lewis may have worded it best.
“You shouldn’t have to pay to go to school – and then pay to go to school.”

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

Keeping Watch

Recent crimes should serve as reminders to stay alert, not to stay naïve.

In 2007, there were approximately 2.6 reported rapes per day in Philadelphia.

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports for that year, there were also 392 homicides and 9,574 aggravated assaults.

These staggering numbers of violent crimes alone speak for themselves – Philadelphia can be a dangerous place. But, although we should, we don’t think about this throughout our daily routines. There is so much beauty, culture and fun to experience, especially for college students, in the city that we often forget the type of world we live in.

The attack and attempted abduction of a Temple student this week, however, should be a wake-up call for all of us.

Granted, the victim in the situation should never have agreed to help a man she didn’t know when doing so required her to approach his vehicle. It’s one of the first safety tips any person learns as a child, especially as a young girl. Never talk to strangers, and never, ever go near anyone’s car.

But are we vigilant enough? And when does vigilance cross the line and prevent us from living our lives? Can we find a balance?

If our fellow student hadn’t been quick enough to escape her attacker’s car, anything could have happened. And while the experience she suffered will likely change her life forever, it could have been much more severe.

When university students – especially female students – are out on the streets of Philadelphia, every second of awareness and precaution counts. As students, we need to look out for ourselves and each other.

Many Temple students come from places outside of Pennsylvania, and they need to understand and respect that this city, whether you’re in Strawberry Mansion or Bella Vista, is just that – a city. And with that title comes some of the most prevalent, most violent big-city crime in the U.S., and it’s not something to ignore.

The next time you’re even tempted to think, “It won’t happen to me,” remember: You just can’t trust people you don’t know. Put simply, you can’t afford it. Your life is too precious to your family, your friends and most importantly, yourself.

The victim of last week’s abduction at TUCC was perhaps not being skeptical enough of others to protect herself, a habit we all need to begin practicing on a regular basis. Our lives may depend on it.

Missing Numbers

Without providing specifics, budget cuts merely serve as excuses.

Last week, Temple students learned an important lesson before even setting foot in a classroom: Nothing in life is free.

After a seven-year run, the Main Campus to TUCC shuttle no longer exists, and students who opted to take classes at the 1515 Market St. campus are being forced to find other modes of transportation to reach their classes.

The shuttle to Temple’s School of Podiatric Medicine, which was incepted in the late 1990s, has also been canceled.

While every penny counts – the savings, $247,000, could possibly save a handful of Temple employees from losing their jobs – there is much to be said about the hastily-made decision.

Though Temple announced the shuttle service termination Aug. 28, the changes were made apparent to students via an electronic Temple Today newsletter or for some, when no shuttle arrived at its usual stop, located at Broad Street and Berks Mall.

The university informed The Temple News that a contributing factor to the decision was low ridership but was unable to provide any specific numbers. The promotion of sustainability also played a role, but for the university to cite the environment as a cause merely distracts disgruntled students from the real issue.

Without an approximate number of daily riders, it is difficult to believe the university considered every facet in the decision-making process or that Temple is being 100 percent honest with its student body. Money is undeniably tight, but how many times can the university cry “budget cuts” before it’s been stripped of everything?

It is understandable that luxuries are not an option right now, but the shuttles were hardly a luxury. Often overcrowded and late, the service itself needed improvement, not abandonment.

It is small services, such as the free shuttles, that build up large, successful institutions. We commend Temple for increasing this year’s tuition by a historically low amount, but it shouldn’t serve as a cover for every financial decision the university makes in the coming months.

No one knows how long it will take for the economy to completely rebound or how many years it will take for Temple to be financially stable again, but only so many cuts can be made until we are left with nothing worth salvaging.

As adults, we are obviously capable of transporting ourselves back and forth to Center City. But as students who were promised a service, we shouldn’t have to.

Zero credits teach skills, save money

Few students realize that Temple has a department that exclusively organizes classes for no credits.
Most students are confused by the notion of a zero-credit course. A few students might laugh at the idea because, after all, why would anyone want to take a class without receiving credits toward graduation in return?

“We offer courses for both professional development and personal enrichment,” said Kevin Wood, director of Temple’s non-credit program.

Personal enrichment courses offer endless possibilities, from personal finance courses to courses in cooking, dance, music and literature.

Center City Savvy, billed as the program’s “most fun course,” is taught by Center City Proprietors Association co-founder Tom Harris and includes behind-the-scenes tours of some of the city’s most venerated landmarks such as the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music.

Other courses like Beginning Your Novel allow working people to delve into hobbies they may not have otherwise pursued but always wanted to try.

Dancing for Weddings, Do-it-Yourself Home Repair and others teach important life skills, which could potentially save time and money.

The personal enrichment half of the program also offers a number of different languages, including multi-level courses in Polish, Japanese, German, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic and Italian, with a special course on Spanish for those in the medical field.

The professional development half of the program is more conventional.

The culmination of each set of courses is a certificate that can only be received upon completion of all required courses. There are 10 different certificates ranging from Management and Leadership to Interior Design, from to Financial Planning to Business Writing.

Wood said the courses work on specific skill sets. He also said the final certificate is a nice resume addition, showing prospective and current employers that holders are serious about their careers and deserve that next job opening.

Students who register for classes with the non-credit program are working professionals who want to take the next steps in their careers or simply want to enrich their quality of life by acquiring new skills.
While the program is open to anyone, it is less directed at the general student body and more at the working residents of the city.

But nothing stops Temple students from taking them. Check out the TUCC Web site for more information on non-credit courses.

Michael Polinsky can be reached at michael.polinsky@temple.edu.

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