Thanks to the Internet, Americans have sharply increased their holiday spending. "They (consumers) are shifting their buying patterns because the cost of driving to the big box stores is going up," said Fred Murphy, a professor at Temple's Fox School of Business who worked for the U.S. Department of Energy, says there has been a huge drop in gasoline consumption. "So, they are saving gasoline by buying online.

The media has covered several stories in recent weeks regarding the molestation of minors. However, there is another group — the elderly — who are probably the most under-reported. "There's a...fear that the perpetrator, who often is a caregiver, will abandon the older adult with no one left to meet their basic survival needs," said Ron Costen, director of the Protective Services Institute at Temple University Harrisburg. "The choice often appears to the older adult to be basic survival versus tolerating the sexual assaults.

Despite aggressive anti-smoking campaigns, the number of people who haven't been able to quite has flat-lined in recent years. New research suggests that there may be a genetic predisposition to nicotine addiction. Aditi Satti, a professor of medicine and director of the smoking cessation program at Temple University Hospital, says scientists are still trying to pinpoint the gene or genes involved.