FORGET FOUL BALLS...LITTLE LEAGUE PARENTS NOW FEAR RIGHT HOOKS --Whether it's last week's murder in Massachusetts over rough play at a hockey game or the recent Florida incident in which a youth baseball league coach has been charged with assaulting an umpire, many parents worry that violence by adults at youngsters' sporting events is on the rise. "There's certainly a sense that these kinds of things are happening more often," says Temple sports psychologist Michael Sachs, co-author of The Total Sports Experience for Kids; A Parent's Guide to Success in Youth Sports.
The most frightening thing about many of these incidents is that the people involved are just like everybody else, he says. "It's not some criminal element. These are your friends and neighbors and, for whatever reason, they're frustrated. With the hurried pace of today's world, we all tend to come into these situations with high stress levels to begin with." To minimize the chance that an overzealous adult ruins their child's good time, and possibly turns them off from athletics permanently, Sachs suggests parents look for leagues that have well-defined rules of conduct and someone in place to enforce them. Reach Dr. Sachs through the Office of News and Media Relations, 215-204-7476.
GOT A (PHILLY) MINUTE? -- Actually, there are 45 of them: broadcast-quality, one-minute video features capturing the essence of the city, from cheesesteaks and scrapple to the Franklin Institute and Rodin Museum, cobblestone streets, local slang, boathouses along the Schuylkill, and America's first zoo. Twenty-five undergrad and grad students collaborated on the writing, shooting, interviewing, editing and voice-overs of the "Philly Minutes" under the guidance of Temple public relations professor Priscilla Murphy and Betsy Leebron, chair of broadcast journalism.
Now the team (from Temple's Schools of Communications & Theater, Fox School of Business & Management and School of Tourism & Hospitality Management) is busy marketing the "Minutes" to hotels, visitor sites and media outlets in advance of the Republican National Convention. "They're fun--they've got serious history and humor, high culture and local color," Murphy says. "We see their usefulness extending well beyond the arrival, and departure, of the city's 45,000 RNC visitors." Contact Professor Murphy at 215-204-8435, or through the Office of News and Media Relations.
THE RIGHT TO PROTEST -- With the GOP convention just weeks away, concerns are mounting over whether activists should be stifled. "The police have no right to restrict people from protesting or expressing their views except in those instances where some superseding right would be violated," says Temple social administration professor Thad Mathis. "There ought to be a high ceiling set for criteria to justify limitations on dissent by established authority as a protection against public manipulation by private interests."
However, Mathis says, police have the duty to ensure that one group's expression of rights does not infringe on the rights of another. "While there is a seemingly thin line separating these respective rights and obligations, they are nevertheless fundamental to our system of government," he notes. To reach Dr. Mathis, call his office, 204-1277, or contact the Office of News and Media Relations.
POLICING THE POLICE -- The Philadelphia police are facing brutality charges after a videotape showed them beating a man. Did they use excessive force? Did they follow procedure? The verdict is still out, says Temple criminal justice professor Jon Clark, coordinator of Temple's police academy. "It doesn't look good, but, given the situation, some licks might have been legitimate. We saw police actually at work on that videotape. It wasn't the police work we normally see on television where there is a script and everything is orderly. Police work is messy.
Taking down a violent suspect is not easy to do," says Clark. "The law regarding a fleeing felon is clear. The police have a right to subdue a felon when the suspect is dangerous." Clark adds, "There are too many unanswered questions regarding the incident. We have to let Police Commissioner John Timoney address them." Reach Clark at his office, 204-7930, or through the Office of News and Media Relations.
This Week at Temple...
Sunday, July 16-Friday, July 28: ALL ACES -- Nine people with significant speech disabilities will learn how to use talking computers--and to use their new skills to develop their literal, social and political voices--during Temple's 13th annual ACES (Augmentative Communication and Empowerment Supports) program. Participants, who hail from around the country and the world, will live in the University's residence halls during the two-week program.
VISIT THE NEWS AND MEDIA RELATIONS WEBSITE: http://www.temple.edu/news_media
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