Limiting portions is a great way to eat in a more heart-healthy manner. Snack on small yogurts and prepacked, 100-calorie bags of almonds, cheese, even chocolate-chip cookies, said Gary Foster, director of Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education. "If you can decrease portion size, that's a really big victory."

Temple University’s Beasley School of Law has received $1.5 million to create a Center for Social Justice. The new clinic won't have a single mission, such as immigration or environmental law, as many clinics do. Instead, Dean JoAnne Epps says, the center's greater flexibility will allow it to partner with area organizations and work separately on a range of projects. "I'm hoping that we teach students how to bring about change through policy, through lobbying and sometimes through litigation," Epps said.

Jordan Shapiro's Temple class delved into a weighty discussion of Plato's allegory of the cave. On the classroom wall flashed a series of posts on Twitter. While many professors ban tweeting in class, Shapiro encourages it. In fact, he was very happy when a student texted with a friend about the class discussion. "Socializing about Plato? Is there a better thing? That's how they're using their phones," Shapiro said. "I felt completely validated."