A class of fourth-graders at Anne Frank Elementary School in Northeast Philadelphia recently spoke via Skype with Astronaut Tim at the International Space Station. Astronaut Tim, aka Tim Belknap, is not really an astronaut, and he's not really in space. He's in the Temple Gallery at Tyler School of Art. The artist, who specializes in kinetic sculpture, built a mock space pod without a fourth wall.

A Virginia woman faces up to one year in jail for disrupting a middle school dance production containing a character she considered racially offensive. The woman objected to a stereotypical "Mammy" character, a caricature of African-American women who were exploited as wet-nurses in the 19th century. "Nothing can claim to be literary art that derogates human beings because of their race, religion, or gender," said Molefi Kete Asante, a professor in the Department of African American Studies at Temple. "This is nothing more than buffoonery."

Temple University Hospital has reactivated its heart and lung transplant programs, effective immediately. "The reactivation of these transplant programs gives Temple the opportunity once again to bring a full range of sophisticated, lifesaving care to patients with end-stage lung and heart disease," said Larry R. Kaiser, Temple's senior executive vice president for health sciences, dean of the School of Medicine and president and CEO of Temple University Health System.