By Morgan A. Zalot | For the Philadelphia Business Journal

A certification program for green tradespeople that originated in Philadelphia is spreading across the country.
The Delaware Valley chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council helped develop and pilot the program in 2005 for regional builders and contractors.
Demand for the program from other chapters prompted the program’s managers to outsource it this year to Resource Dynamics Inc., a Yardley-based conference and workshop management firm specializing in green building and sustainability.
Resource Dynamics now works with chapters of the council across the country to help them operate Green Advantage training sessions and administer the certification exams locally.
“We’re a regional nonprofit, so we wanted to concentrate on spending our resources and time here in the Greater Philadelphia region rather than serving people in Arkansas or Texas. They have local chapters,” explained Heather Blakeslee, educational programs coordinator for the Delaware Valley Green Building Council. “[There's] so much market demand for it, [it's] probably better suited for a for-profit company.”
The number of building industry professionals who participated in the Green Advantage program tripled in 2007 over the previous year and program operators expect demand to increase through 2008.
Lisa Grayson Zygmunt, who helped develop the program and currently leads it for Resource Dynamics, said Green Advantage is to contractors what LEED is to designers.

“It’s a very complementary piece to the design for green building,” she said.

Green Advantage also ties in with LEED because if a certain percentage of contractors on a project pass the certification exam, the building automatically gains a higher point toward LEED certification.

Green Advantage is now a national program with more than 20 faculty members, said Zygmunt. USGBC chapters or contractor trade associations offer public workshops, and many chapters also do private workshops for companies that want to certify their workers so they can market themselves to builders
seeking LEED certification.
The workshops, which are taught jointly by an architect and a contractor, are one-day sessions that typically last from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a follow up certification exam on a separate day. The cost is generally $450 for a workshop, including the exam. If a contractor wants to take the exam without training or more than 90 days after the workshop the fee is $175.
The three main sections of the sessions focus on laying the groundwork for a green building, constructing a green building and finishing a green building. Workshops feature interactive learning in addition to lectures.

Robert Fleming, a DVGBC board member who serves as a faculty member on the architecture side of Green Advantage, said that the best part of the training is the balance it offers between real-world information and broad theories and perspectives on sustainability.
“The strategy is that architect is covering some big picture stuff, and you want the builder to understand how each action and practice fits into the overall picture of sustainability,” he explained.

Michelle Robinson, another Green Advantage faculty member who works as a sustainability specialist at Re:Vision Architecture in Manyunk, said that the juxtaposition of the contractor and architect¹s instruction makes the course more interesting and relatable because the two can play off of each
other’s expertise.
“And it¹s not just two instructors up front lecturing,” Robinson explained. She said the class also includes a number of breakout sessions including role play, green material exercises and a game of jeopardy featuring questions that may appear on the certification exam.

A schedule of public workshops as well as an online registration form is available at www.greenadvantage.org.

Malvern-based Liberty Property Trust senior vice president of national leasing and business development Jim Maneri said his company, which incorporated many green design features into the new Comcast Center, has been certifying its employees since the training first became available.
“The green movement, or the high-performance building movement, is something that we firmly believe in,” he said. “In fact, it¹s been a part of our culture for more than 20 years from the perspective that we¹ve always been focused on the environment that workers have in our buildings.”

He said “many” of the contractors involved in the Comcast Center, which includes features such as electric car charging stations and water-conserving toilets, were Green Advantage certified.
In addition to the center, some other green projects currently underway in the region include a project by King of Prussia-based Irwin & Leighton Inc. involving Target stores¹ first East coast LEED projects in Stafford, N.J., Philadelphia-based Intech Construction¹s Haverford College and University City projects; and Springfield-based W.S. Cumby¹s Overbrook School for the Blind.

W.S. Cumby regional construction manager and general contractor Michael O’Brien, who serves as a facilitator for the Green Advantage program, said that it is the only program of its kind that he knows of.

Washington, D.C.-based USGBC Professional Development Manager Ryan Snow said Green Advantage is the only program that offers a one-day workshop and certification. The USGBC, he said, supports another program with a similar curriculum, but that it is offered as a semester-long course at colleges.

“We found it valuable enough to make it mandatory for all of our administrative and field personnel to become Green Advantage certified,” said O’Brien. “The educational component of green building is so important in the successful delivery of a good green building.”

He said W.S. Cumby also requires all subcontractors on projects to undergo the training before they being working on-site.

Irwin & Leighton CEO Jim Brecker said it was natural for his company to obtain Green Advantage certification, as many of its customers are proponents of sustainability.

He said Green Advantage stands out among its competitor USGBC-approved training programs because they tend to be more LEED-centric, whereas Green Advantage focuses on the building aspect.

“I think it helps our people feel better about understanding when they hear things and see things exactly what LEED is,” he said. “It¹s also helped us as a company because our customers see us as being on top of things.”

Intech’s goal is to certify 100 percent of its project management and preconstruction team, said Project Director Chas Ricciardi.

“It’s the way the industry is headed,” he said. “We see more and more projects coming out with green building design whether or not they’re going for LEED certification, and we¹re just trying to educate ur people on what it’s all about.”

Blakeslee said she still receives inquiries about the program, even though her organization outsourced it to Resource Dynamics months ago.

“It”s one thing to design a green building, but if the contractor doesn¹t understand why the design team asks [for things], it can be derailed,” Blakeslee said. “It takes all three steps operating in a green manner to realize cost, energy and water savings. It¹s got to be designed, built and
operated green.”

Morgan A. Zalot | Northeast News Gleaner

Officer Kathleen DeNofa of Philadelphia’s 24th Police District wasn’t surprised at all when scores of people poured into Cannstatter’s for Saturday evening’s benefit for Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, the officer killed in the line of duty May 3.

Morgan A. Zalot | The Temple News

Free non-street parking at Temple will likely become a thing of the past when construction of a new academic building proposed at a June 17 Philadelphia City Planning Commission meeting begins.

The new building — which will be four- to seven-stories high and feature classrooms, an auditorium and science labs — will be built on the northeast corner of 11th Street and Montgomery Avenue, where the Dirt Lot currently lies.

The Dirt Lot, which received a short-lived makeover over last winter break [”Dirt Lot gets temporary repairs,” Kathryn. A. Lopez, Jan. 22, 2008], is vacant. Students often park their cars there because Temple does not consider it an official parking lot.

“We’re still in the early stages,” Vice President of Operations William Bergman said. “We’re looking at the conceptual idea [now]. We still need to talk to the provost and deans to find out what they’re thinking.”

Bergman said at this point, it will take at least 18 months to break ground for the new building, as Temple still needs to hire an architect. It will likely take about one year to design.

City planner Richard Redding presented the building proposition to the PCPC, which awarded conditional approval and recommended that Temple officials come up with a more urban plan that relates better to city streets and sidewalks.

Previously, the building design featured new open space in front of the building and a parking lot in the rear. The PCPC said these features prevent the building from being as dense and urban as possible.

According to a fact sheet compiled by the PCPC, the cost of the development would be roughly $74 million. In February 2007, the PCPC approved 66 acquisitions on the property by the university, giving Temple rights to build there.

A meeting for further negotiations between PCPC staff and Temple officials is set for July 7, 2008.

By Morgan A. Zalot | The Temple News

Four students will go to trial for their role in an anti-Semitic hate crime on Main Campus in February, a judge ruled during a preliminary hearing this morning.

    David Scott, 20, Stephen Scott, 19, Bryan Pedreiro, 18, and Michael Walsh, 19, all Temple students, still face charges of ethnic intimidation and conspiracy, but Judge Nazario Jiminez, Jr. decreased the charge of aggravated assault to simple assault, a second-degree felony.

    Jordan Blady, 23, victim of the alleged hate crime, took the stand to give his first public testimony in the case in the courtroom at the 22nd/23rd District at 17th Street and Montgomery Avenue.

    Blady testified that after attending a party at Alpha Epsilon Pi, Temple’s Jewish-affiliated fraternity, the night of Feb. 15, he and his friend David Wise went to the pizza shop near 2012 Broad St. The Owl’s Nest is located at 2010 Broad St.

    He said that upon leaving the pizza shop, he and Wise were approached and then surrounded by a group of five to ten males who asked if they were members of Alpha Epsilon Pi before hurling numerous anti-Semitic slurs.

    Blady identified David Scott as the person who punched him in the face, causing a fractured nose, broken eye socket and deviated septum.

    He also specifically identified Stephen Scott as one of the people who used racial slurs during the incident.

    In addition to hospitalization and follow-up treatment for his injuries, Blady testified that he began to and continues to undergo psychiatric treatment as a result of the attack.

    He said the attack frightened him after hearing his grandfather’s stories of being held prisoner during the Holocaust.

    In his testimony, Wise, a non-Temple student who was present for the attack but left unharmed, corroborated Blady’s story. He identified David Scott as the “ringleader” of the group.

    David Scott’s attorney, Fortunato Perri, argued in court that the attack was motivated by a prior assault on Scott’s younger brother, Stephen Scott, which allegedly took place at Alpha Epsilon Pi.

    Both Blady and Wise said they were not involved in any fights at the fraternity earlier that evening.

    In their closing arguments, Perri and prosecutor Christy Tuttle went head-to-head on the issues of ethnic intimidation and the aggravated assault charge.

    Though Jiminez lowered the assault charge, he upheld the charges of conspiracy and ethnic intimidation, a felony in the third degree.

    Outside the courtroom, Blady’s father told reporters that he and his family were very upset about the incident.

    “He just happens to be a very good person,” he said of his son, who was set to graduate from Penn State Abington this semester and already had a job lined up.

    “[He suffered] permanent injuries, and for what? Just because he’s Jewish,” he said.

    Outside, Perri stressed to the media that the initial reason for the confrontation was a prior assault on Stephen Scott, which he said involved Blady and Wise.

    Perri also said that he looks forward to presenting the defense’s evidence and bringing “nonbiased” witnesses to trial.

    “Our witnesses said no one said anything about religion,” Perri said.

    Anthony Petrone, Michael Walsh’s attorney, said he is confident that all conspiracy charges will be thrown out.

    “We’re confident he’ll be completely exonerated,” he said.

    The attorneys for Stephen Scott and Bryan Pedreiro did not comment, citing that Perri covered everything they would have to say.

    The Scott brothers, Pedreiro and Walsh are scheduled to proceed to trial and will appear again in court May 20.

By Morgan A. Zalot | The Temple News

An e-mail scam hit Temple April 23, when a hacker gained access to a TUmail account and sent mass e-mails requesting that users reply with their username, password and date of birth.

“You should never give out your personal information in an e-mail,” said chief information security officer Ken Ihrer. “Temple University will never ask anyone for their password. Your password is private. I don’t need to know it, nobody needs to know it. That’s a big red flag.”

The hacker gained access to a TUmail account when a user somehow contracted malicious software. Ihrer said the hacker installed a “back door” into the computer, which allowed user credentials to be obtained.

With the TUmail account, the hacker set up an e-mail address that appeared to be legitimate and sent e-mails across the network warning users that if they did not verify accounts by sending the information, their e-mail addresses would be permanently shut down.

Ihrer and Sheri Stahler, the associate vice president of Computer Services, estimated that hundreds of e-mails were sent and that more than 75 users responded with their user names, passwords and dates of birth.

“We have gone through the process of locking all of those accounts because now the perpetrator has their credentials, and we are requiring them to reset their passwords,” Ihrer said.

According to an April 18 post from The Chronicle of Higher Education, at least 86 college campuses were recemt;y hit by a similar phishing scam.

When this scam hit, Ihrer said Temple was in the process of setting up a new technology security initiative called TUsecure.
TUsecure will require passwords to be eight to 15 characters in length and include at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter and one number. Special characters will also be an option.

“In addition, there are also security questions that you are going to be mandated,” Stahler said. “So that if you do forget your password you will be asked to authenticate with those security questions, so that’s an additional measure.”

TUsecure will also ask for a user name and password for most applications.

Ihrer said they planned to unveil the new security system on June 2, but in light of the recent scam, they want to put it into effect as soon as possible.

When it goes into effect, an e-mail will be sent out requesting that everyone change their passwords. In order to continue to have access to many programs on the Temple network, users’ passwords must be changed to comply with TUsecure.

Ihrer said that attempts to hack into the Temple network occur daily, but they are seldom successful.

“In the three to four years I’ve been with Temple, I’ve only had a couple,” he said.

The e-mail scam is a federal criminal offense, Ihrer said, and the university has filed a police report.

“The problem is it did come from a West African island, and reality is probably nothing will happen. It’s very hard when you have international issues involved,” Ihrer said. “Our ultimate goal is to shut it down and keep it from happening again.”

By Morgan A. Zalot | The Temple News

A lawsuit filed by a former graduate student has Temple in the midst of a legal battle over students’ First Amendment rights.
On April 10, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Temple appealed a March 2007 ruling that the university’s old sexual harassment policy was too broad and unconstitutional. Temple amended the old policy, which the District Court permanently enjoined.

Sgt. Christian DeJohn, 38, a Pennsylvania National Guard combat veteran and former Temple graduate student, filed suit against Temple in 2006, challenging the constitutionality of the university’s then-standing sexual harassment policy.

If Temple loses the appeal, it will be prevented from reverting back to its old policy, said David Hacker, an Alliance Defense Fund attorney who is representing DeJohn.

“There’s no objectivity to [the old policy],” Hacker said. “Temple did the right thing by changing [it], but the only reason they changed it was because of Mr. DeJohn’s lawsuit.”

Hacker said it could take three to six months for the court to make a decision.

University counsel George Moore said the old sexual harassment policy, which was developed through a university-wide committee including faculty, administrators and student consultations, contained language similar to the Equal Opportunity Act.

“The District Court found that Temple’s policy was overly broad based on a Third Circuit decision involving a civility code in primary education out of the State College School District,” Moore said. “Temple’s sexual harassment [code], which is not a civility code [or a speech code], is a code addressing illegal sexual harassing conduct.”

Moore said the outcome of the case is difficult to predict.

“One [option] is to seek reconsideration by the Third Circuit. Although, if the Third Circuit believes that the case was decided with regards to State College School District, the Third Circuit might feel bound to follow that,” he said.

“If the decision comes out based on that prior case, they don’t have any choice,” Moore said. “It might be a waste of time to ask them to reconsider. In that case, either side that is unhappy … can seek certiorari from the [U.S.] Supreme Court, [but] the Supreme Court only takes a small percentage of cases that way.”

In the same suit, DeJohn accused Temple of retaliation, which prevented him from graduating, and specifically sued the university itself, former President David Adamany, former history department chair Dr. Richard Immerman and history professor Dr. Gregory Urwin.

Moore said the court properly dismissed DeJohn’s claims of retaliation, as he did not meet university standards.

“With respect to his claim about the university sexual harassment policies, his claims really had nothing to do with the sexual harassment policy as it existed at the time,” Moore said. “It was not even a pertinent part of his claims of retaliation.”

DeJohn said his problems with Temple began when he took a leave of absence from working toward his military history degree to serve in Bosnia after the Spring 2002 semester.

When he returned back to the United States in March 2003, he learned that he was expelled from the university for failing to properly document his leave.

“This was my ‘welcome home’ from Temple,” DeJohn said. “‘Welcome home, you’re kicked out.’”
DeJohn was readmitted into the university and completed his class requirements. He began to research and write his graduate thesis, the last step in obtaining his degree.

“Because of Sept. 11, my whole life was disrupted,” DeJohn said. “I just wanted to finish my degree.”

When the primary reader of his thesis, history professor Dr. Jay Lockenour, was ready to sign off on it, DeJohn had one more hurdle to overcome – a secondary reader, Urwin, also had to approve it.

“DeJohn could have easily executed the revisions I recommended for his flawed [Master of Arts] thesis in two weeks and walked away from Temple with his degree years ago,” Urwin wrote in an e-mail, adding that he is currently helping four service members obtain degrees.

“One of the wildest charges DeJohn has circulated since the trial is that I have had him blackballed by various potential employers. How in the world would I know where he was applying for work?”

DeJohn said that though Urwin did not approve his thesis, Lockenour advised him to register to graduate in May 2005 anyway.
Although he never graduated, he said Temple reported to his student loan companies that he obtained a diploma, causing his loans to default, damaging his credit.

“As a veteran, I feel really strongly about civil rights, freedom of speech and First Amendment rights,” DeJohn said. “I think I have a responsibility to defend them. I like the irony here. I come home to Philadelphia, the cradle of democracy, and Temple is denying me my civil rights.”

“Before the disagreements, I had no problems as a student,” DeJohn said. “My cumulative GPA was a 3.2 or 3.3 in graduate school.”
DeJohn said he believes that his issues with the history department stemmed from his objections to receiving anti-war e-mails for weekly Dissent in America teach-ins sponsored by the department while he served overseas.

He said he is not sure what he could win in the case. He said one possibility is declaratory damages, in which Temple would be required to acknowledge that it violated the law.

“If we prevail on the First Amendment [issue], the usual award is $1. It’s a totally symbolic award,” he said.

He said he is ready to take the case as far as needed to ensure First Amendment rights for Temple students.

“If someone is hit by lightning once, it may be an accident,” he said. “If they’re hit seven times, something’s going on. I really have faith that this story will get out and that justice will be done – on the big picture level and my own personal individual level.”

By Morgan A. Zalot | The Temple News

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey took the floor at a University of Pennsylvania class Thursday afternoon and addressed a room packed with students about the media’s role in public safety.
After a five-minute introduction of himself and his work, the commissioner, who is nearing the four-month mark in his position, opened the floor to questions about everything from his controversial stop-and-frisk policy to Philadelphia’s “stop snitching” culture.
Ramsey also commented on Mayor Michael Nutter’s recent gun law signing.
“I’m not anti-gun, but I do think there needs to be reasonable controls,” he said. “I think that asking the state to pass legislation where you have to report a handgun that you lose or is stolen from you is not asking too much. I don’t see why people need to have an AK-47, so banning assault rifles to me seems reasonable.”
When asked about criticisms of him that ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ramsey said he tends to skim everything and make note of good points, but he never lets reporters make him second-guess himself.
“You know why? I’m doing the best I can,” he said. “The next time the commissioner’s job comes open, I implore them to come apply for the job. Until then, I got it and I’ll make the decisions and they can like it or not like it. Because the end result is going to be just that – results. If we’re able to lower the crime rate then it will be successful.”
Ramsey previously served on the police force in Chicago, his hometown, and in Washington, D.C. from 1998 until last January. He likened Philadelphia to Chicago, but told the class it was very difficult to compare to Washington, D.C.
“As far as just an urban environment, Chicago and Philadelphia are easier to compare because Chicago is much larger but it’s very similar in terms of neighborhoods. Some of the issues and problems, just the size of the city, size of the departments – those are comparisons that are easier to make then others,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey turned the tables on the inquiring students and asked if it is OK for an official, like himself, to lie to the media in order to avoid giving out information about an important case?
After receiving various answers from both ends of the spectrum, he said his opinion on the issue.
“This is something where every person has a major decision for themselves. I’ll tell you what mine is. Mine is you don’t talk,” Ramsey said. “There is nothing more important then your personal integrity. With the media, which you’re going to have to deal with again, if you lie to them and mislead them, they will never ever trust you again.
“I don’t believe in ‘no comment,’ personally,” he said. “There’s a way of saying a lot without saying anything and I’ve gotten pretty good at that over the years … They already know that there’s certain things you can’t say. Their job is to ask the question, you’re dumb enough to answer it. You have to know what you can say and what you can’t say.”
Among Ramsey’s major points about the media, he said he believes the media often instill too much of a fear in people.
Ramsey also recently met with Campus Safety Services Executive Director Carl Bittenbender and other representatives to discuss Temple Police’s relationships with the Philadelphia Police Department, said Michael McFall, operations manager for Campus Safety.
While he acknowledges that Philadelphia needs work, Ramsey said he took the job because he wanted to “make a difference” here.
“I came to Philadelphia because I felt I could make a difference. I knew it had issues, but that’s what I was looking for,” Ramsey said. “I wasn’t looking to go to Mayberry or something like that. I wanted a challenge and I got it. This is a great city and I enjoy being here.”

By Morgan A. Zalot | The Temple News

Riders are on edge due to the recent string of random subway concourse attacks, but many Temple students who rely on SEPTA for transportation remain unfazed.

“I’m not any more nervous than I was before,” said Eric Weis, 36, a junior history major. “Philadelphia is a dangerous city sometimes, so you just have to be careful.”
Weis said he doesn’t try to avoid the subway at all in light of the attacks.

“I think it’s better than walking through the streets sometimes,” he said.

A woman was attacked near Market East Station just one week following the March 26 death of Sean Conroy after he was beaten at the 13th Street Station by a group of students from Simon Gratz High School.

Late Friday night, a third victim, a 30-year-old man, was assaulted then robbed by three suspects on the Market-Frankford Line between the 13th Street and 15th Street stops.

On Feb. 20, SEPTA police shot a man who pulled a gun on them at the Broad and Allegheny stop of the Broad Street Line, the stop many students use for the Health Sciences Center.

“Despite the recent assaults near the SEPTA system, between 1989 and 2007, SEPTA experienced an 87 percent reduction in felony-related crimes by implementing a variety of measures to insure the safety of our riders and facilities,” SEPTA press officer Gary Fairfax wrote in an e-mail.

“SEPTA has also begun a program called Smart Stations where enhanced communications/CCTV are among the chief design features. Cecil B. Moore Station is a pilot location for this program,” he wrote.

“[In] my experience, historically here with Temple University students, incidents on the subway have been few and far between,” said Carl Bittenbender, executive director of Campus Safety Services.

He said that SEPTA police are very responsive to Temple’s needs by keeping the lines of communication open and sending additional officers when Campus Police find it necessary.

“This past weekend, we had the concert at the Liacouras Center,” Bittenbender said. “SEPTA provided additional officers near the Broad and Cecil B. Moore entrance on the platforms as well as at the surface.”

Bittenbender said that Temple students aren’t any more likely than the rest of the population to be attacked, but that they still need to exercise caution and be aware of their surroundings at all times.

“A lot of crime is random. It’s opportunity, it’s different things,” he said. “This really is just senseless, and I don’t know the circumstances, but I know in both instances the police were very close by.”

Fairfax said that SEPTA often assigns extra police during school dismissal hours and in high-crime areas.

In addition to extra police presence, the civilian patrol organization, Alliance of Guardian Angels, also recently began to patrol the subway system.

“We’ve had sporadic patrols there before all of this, but now obviously the light is shining on this mess and as Guardian Angels we must respond,” said senior director Arnaldo Salinas.
Though deploying volunteers to patrol the subway is not cost-effective for the Guardian Angels, “we’re now committed to clearing up the mess that is in the system, … these wolf packs, if you will, that are diminishing quality of life in the system,” Salinas said.

The Guardian Angels carry no weapons, but Salinas said they are well-known and highly visible with their red berets, combat boots and reputation for being forceful, yet fair.
“No one is stupid enough to commit a crime in front of us,” he said.

Some students said that though they are not too nervous riding SEPTA as it is, the Guardian Angels can only help the situation.

“I feel like stuff like that can happen anywhere, really, so just after living in the city for a while, I don’t think I’d be more scared on the subway,” said senior sociology major Rosie Ferris. “But I’m sure [the Guardian Angels] probably make it safer.”

“I have definitely seen more security around, so that probably adds to the comfort level,” said second-year law student Adam Schlosser, who commutes daily to Temple from Center City.
Schlosser said he thinks that if everyone is aware that the Guardian Angels are out there, some crime will be deterred.

Bittenbender said that despite the recent incidents, he is still confident that SEPTA is a safe way for students to travel.

“Our students have had excellent experiences on the subway in my history here,” he said. “It’s not incident-free, of course, but I think the SEPTA police do a fine job of patrolling.”

By Morgan A. Zalot | The Temple News

In his fifth run for president, public interest activist Ralph Nader spoke at the Constitution Center about the current state of politics.

“One of these days, the American people will say enough is enough,” he said

Nader called the neck-and-neck campaigns between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as “the same old rhetoric” and said the candidates consistently say one thing and do another.

During the press conference Saturday evening, the independent presidential candidate called the current state of politics in Pennsylvania as “William Penn’s worst nightmare.”

“[There is] sleaze and corruption people of Pennsylvania have to confront because they are paying the price of being defenseless against the activities of democrats and republicans,” he said.

He went on to speak about the Pennsylvania attorney general raiding the offices of state Democratic Party leaders and the grand jury that is currently convening to determine whether bonus pays were awarded to have independent candidates removed from the ballot.

Nader, an outspoken corporate critic, said the grand jury should deter the Democratic Party from trying to remove independent candidates again.

But, if it happens again, “we’ll be ready for you,” Nader said.

Nader also called on the press to pay more attention to these activities.

“This invites investigation,” he said. “When state employees get bonuses to get a candidate off the ballot, that’s pretty serious.”

Pennsylvania has one of the most corrupt state Supreme Courts, Nader said.

He also condemned the war in Iraq. If elected, Nader said he would reduce the military budget and try to return what the government has “stolen” from Iraq and made taxpayers pay.

He said the solution to the war is to give Iraq and the oil back to its people.

The war was not Nader’s only grievance. He also targeted the current mortgage crisis. Nader referred to the policy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s policy of setting monthly mortgage payments at affordable levels.

“These reckless home mortgage lenders … have to pay the price for their profiteering,” Nader said.

With the ever rising cost of college tuition, Nader said he condemned the increasing amount of student loans coming from corporations instead of the Department of Education.

He pointed out that the United States is the only Western country that charges students as much as it does for college tuition.

“We should have a system where students have higher education access without mortgaging their futures,” he said.

By Morgan A. Zalot | The Temple News

A Temple doctoral student convicted of possessing and attempting to posses child pornography is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing later this month.

A jury found Roderick Vosburgh, who also formerly taught at La Salle University, Ursinus College and Delaware County Community College, guilty on one count of attempted possession of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography after a 2006 FBI sting operation aimed at combating the common crime.

“[Stings are] usually fairly easy to prove because you’ve got a lot of evidence that can be tracked back to the defendant,” said Alex Muentz, an adjunct criminal justice professor who worked on an Internet child pornography case as a law student. “Also, I found that juries and judges are less sympathetic in sex offender cases.”

According to Cornell University Law School’s Web site, Vosburgh could potentially face up to 10 years in prison for the charges.

Anna Durbin, Vosburgh’s attorney, declined to comment on the record, citing that she recently filed a motion for acquittal.

According to the government’s response to the defendant’s motion for acquittal, which details the charges against Vosburgh in chronological order, an undercover FBI agent created a post on a child pornography message board called “Ranchi” in October 2006.

The post advertised a video of a 4-year-old girl engaging in “hardcore” sexual acts with her father and contained hyperlinks, which did not actually contain pornography, but were instead routed back to the agent’s computer.

On the evening of Oct. 26, 2006, the agent linked three separate attempts to download the advertised video to Vosburgh’s personal computer through his IP address.

Upon a warranted search of Vosburgh’s residence after his IP address was linked to the undercover post, FBI agents found two thumbnails of child pornographic images on an external hard drive that also contained academic documents with Vosburgh’s name.

The government’s response to the motion for acquittal described the thumbnails as images of nude prepubescent girls posing provocatively.

Vosburgh also faced charges of destroying media to obstruct evidence and prevent seizure, but they were dropped in late 2006.

During the 27 years he worked as a customs special agent, adjunct criminal justice professor Joseph Alkus participated in multiple sting operations, including cases similar to Vosburgh’s.
He said that stings are common and important in cases of child pornography, citing a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children statistic that lists 1,830 child pornography cases reported the week of Jan. 7, 2008, alone.

Agencies like the FBI use special filtering methods to ensure that innocent people do not become trapped in these operations, Alkus said.
“A sting operation is always an effective tool to try to ferret out these kinds of activities because they operate under a guise of darkness like organized crime does,” he said. “They’re not out in the open, in the daylight, and law enforcement has to be aggressive in order to detect them.”

He said that the process is by no means casually delineated or haphazard.

“The chance that someone innocent [would] be caught up in this kind of sting is more remote,” he said. “They go into places where people who are trafficking or conversing in child pornography exist and they just lay the opportunity there for them to look at it. They don’t entice them to take it. They just put it out there and then see what happens.”
Alkus and Muentz said that the IP address is considerable evidence against Vosburgh.

“Nothing is 100 percent, but I don’t think they’ll be able to disprove it,” Muentz said. “There may be something specific that they know that I don’t, but normally that’s pretty good evidence.”

Vosburgh could not be reached for comment via e-mail to his TUmail address last week.