Within the U.S. Muslim community, suspicion has grown in recent years about meat sold under the halal label as the number of suppliers expands and standards of animal slaughter get new, modern interpretation. Generally speaking, after a short prayer, animals are to be killed with a sharp blade drawn across the throat. "The slaughtering of the animal is a pretty simple practice," said Zain Abdullah, an associate professor of religion at Temple. "But there is a cadre of scholars that Muslims will follow.
A new documentary film by Temple film and media arts professor Eran Preis explores the impact of severe mental illness on an entire family — his family. The film documents his son's struggle with mental illness, and how it has affected Preis, his wife and their two other sons. Preis says he wants the film to prepare other families for the frequent changes that mental illness brings. "It's the constant ups and downs, that's what we have learned," he said. "For a while, he goes to school, and he is doing very well, and then it just cannot hold, and it falls apart.
Over the past few years, physicians have been learning more about the long term effects of concussions. Ryan Tierney, a professor of kinesiology at Temple, has been investigating whether some athletes are more prone to developing concussions than others, by testing football and soccer players to see if they had a specific variation of a gene that helps in repairing damaged neurons.
Temple is one of five local universities that will receive $500,000 each from the U.S. Commerce Department's University Center Program. The grant will help local economic development authorities and nonprofits promote job growth by aiding research commercialization and workforce development. Other awards went to Duquesne University, Penn State University, Rutgers University and Delaware State University.
For the ninth straight year, The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine have recognized Temple's Fox School of Business for excellence in entrepreneurship. The Fox School ranks No. 11 nationwide for undergraduate entrepreneurship programs — making it the highest-ranked school in Greater Philadelphia. Fox's graduate entrepreneurship program is ranked at No. 20.
