Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed to expand the two countries' currency swap arrangement last month in an effort to stabilize their currency markets. Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian studies at Temple University, Japan Campus, says that both nations are responding to the rise of China and perceptions of U.S. decline. "Both countries continue to see in each other the potential for enormous opportunities."
In an Inquirer column, Eva Monheim of Temple's Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture offered seasonal gardening tips. In the Philadelphia region, you can plant bulbs until the first week in December as long as the ground isn't frozen. According to Monheim, it's also time to empty bird baths and other pottery, trim dried stems, protect potted rosemary plants, pile tree branches tepee-style to provide a structure for rambling vines, edge plant beds with metal strips and stakes and generally see what nature is up to.
Amid tea parties and occupations, bailouts and collapses, Arab Springs and government-shutdowns, it may seem that the world is spinning out of control. One of the most important factors— the real-estate boom and bust — remains at the center of things, said Robin Kolodny, a political science professor at Temple. "Foreclosures are happening around people," she said. "What they thought was their retirement nest egg is now worth much less. The American dream is to own a home.
A new study by Temple researchers found that obese students have great interest in weight loss, but this intent can mean increased smoking and soda drinking. Temple's Clare Lenhart presented data from a survey of 44,000 students that showed that about 75.7% of the obese students attending Philadelphia public high schools sought to lose weight. "What I was expecting to see was increased intake of salad or healthy foods," Lenhart said.
Stanley Whitney, professor emeritus and former chair of Painting and Drawing at Temple's Tyler School of Art, has been awarded the first Robert De Niro Sr. prize for achievement in painting. The merit-based prize, which is given to mid-career artists, was established to honor the work and legacy of accomplished painter De Niro Sr. “Stanley’s work and the way he practices his craft both show what this prize is all about — honoring a person with great passion for and lifelong commitment to art,” said Robert De Niro.
Temple's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management again hosted Back on My Feet's annual pre-race pasta dinner the night before the Philadelphia Marathon to celebrate the more than 40 runners involved with the nonprofit who ran in the races associated with the marathon. Temple's Sport Industry Research Center (SIRC) also has an ongoing research partnership with the organization, which promotes the self-sufficiency of the homeless by engaging them in running to build confidence. "You never thought you could run three miles, and all of a sudden you run three.
Two runners collapsed and died at the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday, eclipsing an event that drew more than 25,000. Cardiologists said that heart attack was unlikely to be the cause. More plausible, they said, was that the runners had undetected heart problems that were exacerbated by the rigor of the race. "I keep telling people, if they're a runner, they should, in fact, get a checkup and make sure they understand their risks," said Alfred Bove, a Temple cardiologist who has run marathons.
