Con artists are using legal smartphone apps in a new scam. They call a potential victim to say he or she has bounced a check. If the person refutes that claim, the scammer calls back using an app that disguises the number – making it appear as if a police officer is calling – and threatens arrest if the bill isn't paid. "Right now this is probably preying on people’s view that whatever shows up on their caller ID is actually the truth," said Richard Flanagan, who directs a master's program in IT Auditing and Cyber-Security at Temple's Fox School of Business.
A new study found that one in every 33 baby boomers has the Hepatitis C virus, and many don’t know it. In fact, Hepatitis C is now killing more people than AIDS. Robert Bettiker, infectious diseases specialist at Temple, says if you had a blood transfusion before 1990 (when routine screening for hepatitis C began) or have ever used intravenous drugs, you should tell your doctor. A blood test can determine if you’ve been exposed, and early treatment could be effective.
Renowned Philadelphia jazz trumpeter Terell Stafford is a teacher, player, bandleader and composer. "I don't sleep much," admits the Temple director of jazz studies and chair of instrumental studies. As a teacher he’s credited with being unusually accessible, an attribute learned from his mentors. "They'd make time for me and my dumb questions. . . . I want to pass along to my students what some of these folks have passed along to me."
Temple business students walked their portion of North Philadelphia last week looking for inspiration. Sixteen groups, including MBA students and undergraduates, were charged with finding sustainable solutions to impact Temple and its adjacent neighborhoods for the better. It was the second Northbroadband Design Challenge, part of the Fox School's Design Week. Some components of the ideas will be developed, either by the students or by being pitched to interested technologists, said the event's organizer, Professor Youngjin Yoo.
Social media bring us closer to celebrities whom we may never meet and provide fans a forum to openly and collectively grieve when tragedy strikes. Temple psychologist Frank Farley says people will feel particularly devastated when a person possessed special qualities that make them stand out. "Given our psychological involvement in music, those who stand out will mean a lot to us."
A year ago, when Tyler School of Art professor Gerard Brown was asked to curate a 25-year retrospective of the Center for Art in Wood, he headed for the basement to check out the collection. He found a lot more than the "10,000 bowls" the center's old image and origins might have suggested. "There are issues of gender and identity, pieces that have a kind of incredible sense of humor, work that has wit and charm about it, work that ties into the history of furniture and into contemporary aesthetics," he said.
Expensive, high-tech helmets with air-lining systems aren't much better than vintage "leatherheads" for preventing concussions, a new study finds. "The occurrence of concussion has been constant for the past 30 years: whether it was a leather helmet, a plastic helmet with web suspension or foam, or one with the new combination air cells and padding," said study author Joseph Torg, professor of orthopedic surgery at Temple.
Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum thinks it's "intellectual snobbery" to say that every American should go to college. But tell that to Bob Stewart, of Northeast Philadelphia. After steady union work dried up a few years ago, a diploma became his quest for survival.
The Arizona Board of Regents on Friday named Temple President Ann Weaver Hart as the new president of the University of Arizona. She will be the school's 21st president and the first woman to ever hold the post at the Tucson school. Hart, who is also the first woman to serve as president at Temple, will replace Eugene G. Sander and will begin her term on July 1.
