A Tyler professor’s design was selected for a new historic memorial, a Temple nurse looked back on a year of the coronavirus pandemic and a Fox professor discussed the government’s relief package.

A new historic memorial finds a unique way to honor Philadelphia’s past 
A design by Karyn Olivier, an associate professor at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, has been chosen for the Bethel Burying Ground Historic Memorial. Titled Her Luxuriant Soil, her design calls for a series of white granite paving stones, some of them inscribed with stories about the lives of the more than 5,000 people interred at Bethel—which now lies underneath a playground. The inscriptions will only be visible when the stones are wet. “[Reading their stories] you could see that Black people’s deaths in the 1800s were caused by pandemics and illnesses and here it is 200 years later, and Black and brown people are still dying [disproportionately from pandemics]. It feels like we haven’t moved forward,” Olivier said.
Philadelphia Inquirer｜March 13, 2021

Laws affecting trans athletes gain traction across the U.S.
Laws prohibiting trans women and girls from playing school sports on women’s and girls’ teams have been passed in Idaho and Mississippi. And legislators have proposed new laws regarding trans youth in at least 26 states. “It is interesting in a lot of these cases in a lot of these states, you’re not seeing the request for legislation coming from the populus,” said Heath Fogg Davis, a professor of political science and director of the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program in the College of Liberal Arts.
Sports Illustrated｜March 12, 2021

Owl-owned eatery helps customers maintain a healthy diet during the coronavirus pandemic
Jenna Cardello, FOX ’14, owns Boostin’ Bowls, which is known for its menu of healthy options, including acai bowls and smoothies. When the pandemic hit last March, Cardello was worried about how her business would fare. But her customers supported her. “We were kind of already set up for takeout,” she said. “There was a lot of uncertainty in the beginning though.”
Al Día｜March 11, 2021 

The pandemic has changed how we speak
From “Blursday” and “mask up” to “virtual learning” and “flatten the curve,” the pandemic has changed the words and phrases we know and how we use them. “The real question is, ‘how is this going to impact our language over time?’” said Dustin Kidd, an associate professor of sociology and director of the Intellectual Heritage Program. “Language is living and we can ultimately lose sight of that.”
NBC10｜March 11, 2021 

Young men of color stay home to stay safe, at a cost to them and their communities
Jamie Fader, an associate professor of criminal justice, interviewed young men in Philadelphia and found that many of them retreated from social interactions, staying home due to concerns about the police and street violence. “Their orientations revolve around risk and trying to reduce or mitigate that risk,” Fader said. “Men, 25 to 34 years old, our assumption might be that they’re moving around, going to jobs, going to family reunions, engaged in normal adult activities. But instead, we find so many of them trying to really limit those activities and carefully regulate their relationships with people because of the trouble that could arise.”
Philadelphia Inquirer｜March 11, 2021 

An Owl serves patients at her pharmacy, with thousands more on her vaccine waiting list
Chichi Ilonzo Momah, PHR ’06, has spent the last year on the pandemic’s front lines. Her pharmacy has 3,500 patients in its system and 22,000 people on its vaccine waiting list. Since early February, it has received two shipments of vaccine—enough to provide about a 100 patients with two inoculations. “We put a registration link on our website, but the phones are still ringing off the hook because people are afraid, people are anxious, and people don’t know what to do,” Momah said. “They want to talk to someone. They need help.”
Philadelphia Inquirer｜March 11, 2021 

A close look at the pandemic relief package
The U.S. government recently passed a $1.9 trillion relief package, including $1,400 direct stimulus payments to people making less than $75,000 and $2,800 to married couples making less than $150,000. But not everyone will be eligible for assistance. Steven Balsam, a professor of accounting and Senior Merves Research Fellow at the Fox School of Business, says young people who graduated from college last spring are a prime example. “Those students, because they didn’t lose their jobs due to COVID, and didn’t have job offers withdrawn due to COVID, don’t qualify for unemployment,” he said.
6ABC｜March 10, 2021 

A year on the pandemic’s front lines
It’s been a year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. For Angie Cleghorn, an intensive care unit nurse at Temple Health’s Jeanes Hospital, last spring and summer were probably the worst months of her career. “I’ve never seen patients sicker in my life. As soon as one of our beds became empty we would fill it,” she said.
Philadelphia Inquirer｜March 10, 2021 

Trauma outreach manager at Temple University Hospital works to combat gun violence
Scott Charles, a trauma outreach manager at Temple University Hospital, has created a program sponsored by the university that gives free gun locks to anyone with a Philadelphia ZIP code. “You only need to see a child who has been a victim of gun violence once to really understand how important this is,” he said.
6ABC｜March 8, 2021

Malcolm Kenyatta begins his second term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
When the pandemic began, Malcolm Kenyatta, KLN ’12, was just a year into his first term serving as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The COVID-19 response became the focus of his legislature and he has been booed by his fellow representatives while talking about fair wages for essential workers. As he begins his second term, he remains optimistic. “This Zoom life that we’ve all been living. We’ve been in each other’s homes and each other’s lives, hearing the dogs barking or the baby’s crying, the garbage disposal going off, the doorbell ringing, all these different things,” he said. “It’s just a reminder that we’re all experiencing that, you know, we’re all going through this, and we need to give each other grace.”
LGBTQ Nation｜March 5, 2021 

Temple University Hospital uses new technology to give patient life-saving transplant
After developing pulmonary fibrosis in his left lung, Thomas Puskar needed a lung transplant. He recently received one at Temple University Hospital, becoming the first patient to benefit from the hospital’s use of a TransMedics Organ Care System: a portable device that keeps organs functioning even after they’ve been removed from a donor. “Patients [like Puskar] are sometimes very sick and they quickly die. But with this technology, we can accept more donors. That will be very helpful for these patients,” said Yoshida Toyoda, a professor of surgery and the William Maul Measey Chair, Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine.
6ABC｜March 5, 2021 

Owl makes plea for criminal justice reform
Dion Dawkins, CLA ’17, knows what it’s like to have a loved one in prison. His eldest brother, Eric, is currently serving a sentence related to a gun charge. “The more I learn about all of this stuff, and the more I watch my brother go through this system we have, the more I’ve begun to understand how a first step toward positive change is empathy,” Dawkins said.
The Players’ Tribune｜March 2, 2021 

—Edirin Oputu