MAKING SENSE OF THE WORLD WITH NO-NONSENSE DR. PHIL -- Dr. Phil McGraw's no-nonsense, keep-it-simple, cut-the-crap advice has made him a hit with television viewers nationwide. It's not surprising that people would seek simple guidance in a world that seems increasingly more complex, says Temple psychologist Frank Farley. Whether it's Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, or other psychologists in the media, viewers are looking to go beyond the "self-growth"--and psychobabble--of the 1980s to the "self-responsibility" of today, says Farley, former president of the American Psychological Association's Division of Media Psychology. "One of the jobs of psychologists is to articulate what's on the short list of what will make our lives better, healthier and happier. People like Phil, and Dr. Laura, are plowing that field. Self-responsibility and simplicity are at the forefront of their approach." McGraw's approach, which can be quite fatherly, also appeals to people, Farley notes. "To some extent, we've lost that father figure in our country. It used to be father knows best. Now it's Dr. Phil knows best."
PHILADELPHIA AN ART MECCA? -- Theresa Dolan, professor and chair of art history at Temple's Tyler School of Art, knows the Barnes Collection, and is betting that one of the "best Impressionist collections of the period" will find its way to Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway. "If the Barnes moved to the parkway, Philadelphia would rival any major artistic city in the world--including New York, London and Paris," says Dolan. "Between the early modernism collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Collection, the city would offer an incomparable visual and intellectual experience." Dolan, who has visited the collection about 90 times since the early 1960s, teaches and writes on Impressionism and post-Impressionism. She's even seen the Barnes Collection as it toured international galleries, and jockeyed for position around a Van Gogh with Tony Bennett. "The insolvency of the Barnes Foundation is a very compelling reason to dissolve the trust--which has been broken at times to take some of the works on tour. With it, we have more significant Cezannes in Philadelphia than even Paris. They have no alternative. I think they will move."
TEACHERS AND PARENTS HAVE LITTLE FAITH IN PRIVATIZATION--A new study by Temple's Center for Public Policy (TUCPP) and the Eastern Pennsylvania Organizing Project (EPOP) states that more than half of Philadelphia parents and teachers believe that privatizing low-performing city schools won't make much difference in the classroom. "There is no reason to believe that changes in management and organizational structure, no matter how bold or controversial, will necessarily result in changes in what happens in the classrooms," says Gordon Whitman, TUCPP Project Director and author of the study. However, survey respondents did have ideas on what reforms would make a difference in the classroom. Chief among them are the establishment of district-wide policies regarding communication between teachers and parents and a revamping of the district's professional development program. "Any true education reform must be measured against whether it improves the quality of teaching students receive," says Whitman.
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