December 2008
Monthly Archive
Happy Holidays from The Triangle
Posted by Jamie Thomson on 23 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: The Drexel Beat, Your Corner Soapbox
Update to 44th/Spruce
Posted by Stephanie Takach on 22 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: The Drexel Beat
According to Domenic Ceccanecchio, the senior associate vice president for public safety, the email and texts sent to students was meant to inform the Drexel community about a suspect who might have committed similar crimes around the city. Ceccanecchio said that the decision to send out the email and texts was made as soon as DPS had confirmed that the suspect for the crime on UPenn’s campus might have been responsible for similar occurences in center city, indicating that Drexel students might be at risk. DPS will be assisting the investigation by increasing video surveillance around campus.
Ceccanecchio also said that this was the first time DPS tested the emergency alert system. The alert was sent to all Drexel community members who signed up their phones, on all campuses. However, according to Ceccanecchio, some phones did not receive the alert. The exact reason why some people did not receive the text is not yet known, but DPS is looking into the causes and possible solutions, according to Ceccanecchio.
Residential Robbery and Rape at 44th and Spruce
Posted by Stephanie Takach on 22 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: The Drexel Beat
According to DPS, two female students at UPenn were robbed and assaulted on Friday, December 19. The safety advisory e-mail sent to Drexel students on Monday claimed that the suspect, a tall black male, was armed with a knife and handgun and broke into an apartment on 44th and Spruce. The two female inhabitants of the apartment were robbed, and one of them was sexually assaulted according to the advisory e-mail.
The cautionary message was also sent via text message to students who have registered their phones with DPS. However, at the time of this post, James Katsaounis, the executive director of student life and administrative services, was not available to comment on the delayed cautionary messages.
According to DPS, the suspect is also responsible to two previous similar incidents in Center City. DPS is reportedly increasing its presence on campus and is actively searching for the suspect to assist in the investigation. As always, students have been advised to follow the safety tips given by DPS:
Safety Tips:
1. Keep all doors and windows locked, even during brief periods of time.
2. Immediately contact Drexel Public Safety at (215) 895-2222 or via the Blue Light Emergency Phones located on campus if you feel in danger or observe suspicious activity.
3. Do not allow anyone to piggyback behind you when entering a locked building and alert Drexel Public Safety immediately to report anyone attempting to gain unauthorized entry.
4. Be aware of your surroundings and activity occurring around you.
5. Use the Drexel Walking Escorts by calling (215) 895-2822.
6. Make sure your mobile phone is registered with DrexelALERT via the DrexelOne portal https://one.drexel.edu
Local Fire Fighters Protest Closing
Posted by Aaron Walizer on 15 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: The Drexel Beat
On Monday, December 15, 2008, members of the Philadelphia Fire Fighter’s Union Marched from local 22’s union hall to City Hall using 4th Street and than Market Street. The march was done to bring public awareness to the city’s plan to cut almost 10% of public fire protection in Philadelphia without an independent impact study. The cuts will take place on January 5, 2009.
Since I Can’t Access DrexelOne, I’ll Spend This Time Blogging
Posted by Karl Kuchs on 10 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: Your Corner Soapbox
The end of a term is a stressful time for students as there are many things that must be attended to. Aside from studying for finals, students must register for classes, check schedules, stay on top of important e-mails to professors, submit projects and view their final grades. In order to assist students in these activities, Drexel offers their DrexelOne system that, for the most part, easily accesses all of the previous mentioned activities. However, it only adds to the stress when you attempt to log into the DrexelOne server to find this:
I first noticed this issue during DrexelOne’s last reserved maintenance window, which seemed to last longer than usual, and I now find that on the login page a message stating that “DrexelOne is currently operating at reduced capacity.”
Now as far as I know there has been no official announcement regarding the cause for this reduced server capacity. Personally I hope it is due to some sort of system crash and not the IT guys deciding that now would be a nice time for extended system maintenance. I cannot think of a worse possible time to schedule extensive system maintenance than week 10 or finals week. Although most of the services mentioned earlier are still accessible through direct logins, it is quite annoying to have to change the way you’ve been using a system during such stressful times.
I like the way I’ve been using the system and a number of things I do a certain way for a reason. For example, a few years back I would view my e-mail through DrexelOne and Webmail interchangeability, however an issue developed where when trashing e-mails they would get sent to different trash bins depending on which system I was using. As a result, only one trash bin would ever get emptied and I would suddenly find myself using 100% of my e-mail capacity and not knowing why I couldn’t reduce it. Since then I haven’t trusted or used Webmail, well until I was forced to this week.
Aside from a disturbance to our normal Internet routines, there are a handful of services that cannot be accessed without going onto DrexelOne, most notably anything dealing with class schedules or final grades. There are still students that are tweaking their schedules for next term, and aside from everyone wanting to see their final grades, there will be a handful of cases where there may be an error in the grade submitted and will need to be attended to as soon as possible. The loss of easy access to these services will not only lead to increased stress to students, but also hold potential to lead to more serious issues down the road.
As mentioned before, I’m not sure if the reduced capacity is due to some sort of system error or scheduled system maintenance. If a system error has occurred then I feel sorry for the people working to fix the problem while dealing with the frustration from Drexel students, and congratulate them for at least getting some usability of the DrexelOne server. However, if this is just some sort of scheduled system maintenance, you better be working hard to get us back our full system as soon as possible and in the future don’t be stupid enough to schedule anything during the end of the term.
Triangle Graphic by Karl Kuchs
Students line up for free PINK shirts
Posted by Karl Kuchs on 05 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: The Triangle View
Victoria’s Secret PINK gave out 500 free PINK t-shirts to students before the Woman’s Basketball game Dec. 5. Even though a large number of students showed up to receive a free shirt, many chose not to stick around to watch the game.
Triangle Photos by Olivia Garrity
BFB Update
Posted by Stephanie Takach on 02 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: The Drexel Beat
The Benjamin Franklin bridge was barricaded today according to sources in the mayor’s office due to President-Elect Barack Obama making a visit to Philadelphia to discuss the economic crisis. Police were diverting traffic towards the end of the bridge along 4th street. Traffic should return to normal today. According to the Metro, Obama met today with governors from across the nation, including governors Ed Rendell (D-Pa.) and Sarah Palin (R-Alaska). Governors will ask Obama to commit $136 billion to infrastructure projects, which, according to the Metro, will be used to create jobs immediately.
Ben Franklin Bridge 12-2-08
Posted by Dave Hernandez on 02 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: The Triangle View
This morning as I was making my commute to campus from New Jersey, the Philadelphia Police blocked all traffic coming into the city from the BFB. I was stuck there for about 30 minutes. Eventually they opened up the roadway and allowed us through.
No official word as to why they closed it.
Here are some photos:
Triangle Photos by Dave Hernandez
Men’s Basketball 12-1-08
Posted by Dave Hernandez on 02 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: Drexel, Men's Basketball, Sports, The Triangle View
Construction begins on Integrated Sciences Building
Posted by Stephanie Takach on 01 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: The Drexel Beat
As many students have noticed, Drexel put up fences around Korman Hall, across from MacAlister Hall, to begin construction on the Integrated Sciences Building.
According to Jim Katsaounis of Student Life and Administrative Services, the fencing that is being installed around west and south sides of Korman Center is in preparation for construction site work to begin for the new building.
He also said that the pathway from the Quad to the corner of 33rd and Chestnut Streets is being closed as parts of the pathway will be removed so the ground can be prepared to accommodate the reclamation of the rain runoff which is one of the sustainable design elements for the new building.
Other construction projects on campus include the Recreation Center and the 34th Street Residence Hall.
Katsaounis said construction on the Recreation Center is on schedule and within budget.
“The project is coming along as planned and we are still projecting an opening for sometime in late December 2009.”
Construction on the 34th Street Residence Hall is roughly six day ahead of schedule in regard to the pouring of the structural concrete.
“We are hoping to ‘Top out’ by having the last pour the week of Dec. 15,” Katsaounis said.
For more construction udates, stay tuned to thetriangle.org
