Temple University - Templar Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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PROS AND CONS OF ON AND CAMPUS Temple was once known as a commuter school — students from surrounding counties and southern parts of New Jersey would often come to class during the day and return home at night. Over the years. Temple has slowly shed this reputation. Currently, there are seven on-campus residence halls, as well as numerous opportunities for off-campus living without the commute. Due to this change, the choice between living on or off campus has become a topic of debate. Living in a residence hall can be an important learning experience, especially during a student's first year. Sophomore Courtney Turnbull lived in 1940 residence hall her freshman year and now lives off campus. Living in the residence halls allowed me to get away from my high school life, Turnbull said. It also allowed me to branch out and meet new and diverse people. Sophomore Ryan Mahoney lived in Morgan Hall his freshman year and now lives off campus. He described on-campus living as a good experience and even prefers it to off-campus living. It always felt like there was something to do, or somebody to meet, Mahoney said. Living off campus I feel kind of isolated, like I'm not really a part of the campus anymore. Junior Tyrel Watson views living off campus differently. Living in the residence hall was fun, but living off campus gives me so much more freedom, Watson said. As I got older I didn't want to be constrained by the policies of a residence hall. OFF HOUSING Living in a residence hall arguably provides better security and allows students to make friends within their building. However, it also comes with a strict drug and alcohol policy, as well as guest check-ins, where students may only check in a total of three guests during the day and one guest after midnight. Residence halls are pretty strict. Moving off campus has given me a lot more independence, Turnbull said. It's definitely a different atmosphere, but I enjoy it. Living off campus presents the problems of location, pricing and the possibility of being paired with random roommates. Each student seems to deal with these obstacles differently. I was fortunate to be able to live with some of my fraternity brothers after two years of living in the residence halls, Watson said. If it weren't for them, I probably would've had trouble figuring out any type of off campus living situation. Price was never a concern since on-campus is almost always more expensive, Mahoney added. I just wanted to live with somebody I could trust. Within the past three years, Morgan Hall, a new and modern residence hall, and The View at Montgomery, an off-campus apartment complex, have opened. Could this be a sign of things to come? WRITTEN BY JOSEPH WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHED BY SHELBIE PLETZ AND SARAH WHITEHEAD

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Temple Students Vacate Philadelphia for Pope Francis Visit In preparation for the long-awaited visit of Pope Francis, Philadelphia went through many transformations on the weekend of September 25, 2015. The city took extra security measures, changed public transportation schedules and expected more than one million people to flock to the city from all over the world. Philadelphia school districts closed for days and major transportation routes, such as the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and 1-95, shut down for the weekend. Over the summer, media outlets and news conferences leaked information to residents about how Philadelphia would be adapting to host this global event. Many Temple students were intimidated by the predictions being made about the much-anticipated Pope weekend. Some students who live on campus or in off-campus apartments decided to head back to their hometowns — some left campus as early as Wednesday night. Junior Kara Dwyer was one of those students. The city waspreparing for tons of people to come, so they shut down major streets and dosed restaurants and city schools, Dwyer said. It seemed like the city was going to be bombarded with over a million people - kind of intimidating. Instead of dealing with the citywide madness, her family decided to spend the weekend at their beach house at the Jersey Shore. I jumped at the opportunity to leave, Dwyer said. However, not ell Temple students were daunted by the event Some chose to stay at Temple and attempt to get a glimpse of the Pope himself. Senior Benjamin Math was excited to see the transformation the city would undergo in preparation of the Pope's visit. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Pope in my hometown; Math said Pope Francis will certainly never come to Philadelphia again, and I will probably never go to the Vatican, so I had to take this opportunity to see him The Pope's Sunday mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway drew an enormous crowd. People filled the streets and waited hours to go through security checkpoints. Overall, the weekend went smoothly, despite the chaos many had feared Philadelphia stepped up to show the Pope, and the entire world that was watching, just how great of a city it really is. wrtm ey brittany loeffler mmm 8v jenny kerrigan