Big data can have big-time benefits for businesses. But it’s useless without the analytic know-how.
Villanova gets that. That’s why the university’s business school wants its students to be able to develop the skills and knowledge needed in an increasingly data-driven economy.
On Thursday, the university launched its Master of Science in Analytics program, which will be ready for students this fall. The program — offered in an online format only — will teach students the whole analytics continuum, from data collection to analysis to implementation. (While Villanova is touting it as a major win, some wonder if online is the best avenue for that kind of study.)
Also slated for a fall 2014 kickoff is Villanova’s online Master in Business Administration degree. It boasts convenience and flexibility for students, who will be taught with the university’s same MBA curriculum by the same faculty, for almost the same price. Read more about this story on PBJ.com
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For more breaking business news go to PBJ.com
Swarthmore College officials say they've implemented several recommendations to improve their handling of alleged sexual assaults and harassment on campus.
President Rebecca Chopp says the college will continue to do more. Her comments came Thursday as she released a consultant's final report examining the school's policies and procedures.
Chopp says Swarthmore plans to expand its education and prevention efforts; establish a confidential peer support group; better track and analyze reported offenses; and publish an annual report summarizing how cases are handled.
The consultant was hired last spring in part due to student complaints about how Swarthmore treats alleged victims of sex crimes.
A preliminary report released in July led to the hiring of an advocate for victims of sexual violence.
Swarthmore serves about 1,500 students outside Philadelphia.
In the wake of a deadly warehouse blaze that killed two firemen, a Philadelphia councilman is calling for a new law that would allow firefighters to better understand the condition of tens of thousands of abandoned buildings in the city.
Councilman Dennis O'Brien on Thursday said he is seeking to pass a new ordinance that will require the Department of Licenses & Inspections to work with the Philadelphia Fire Department to survey the city's estimated 35,000 abandoned buildings.
After that initial survey, the two city agencies would then evaluate each building so that firefighters arriving to fight a fire at one of those locations would be aware of dangerous conditions inside like unstable walls or floors, O'Brien said.
The councilman says the firefighters could help identify potential dangers that their crews might face which L&I inspectors may not realize. The hope is that some of the most dangerous issues could also be fixed to avoid any risk to crews.
Each building would be marked with a reflective placard that would list some of the hazardous conditions firefighters could face at or inside that structure, officials said.
"Everyday that you don't have a comprehensive strategy in place, the public is at risk and as we know, the firefighters that respond to these commercial and industrial buildings are at risk," O'Brien said.
O'Brien made his announcement at Philadelphia City Hall alongside of the families of Fire Lt. Robert Neary and firefighter Daniel Sweeney.
Neary, 60, and Sweeney, 25, were killed on April 9, 2012 as they fought a five-alarm blaze at a former hosiery warehouse at 1817 E. York Street in the Kensington section of the city.
Both firefighters at Ladder 10, the men were working to knock down flames which spread to an adjacent furniture store when a wall collapsed, burying them under brick and mortar.
A source of much concern in the neighborhood, residents who lived near the warehouse said they complained to both the city and the building's New York-based owners about its dangerous condition.
Following the blaze, city officials said the property had been cited four times by the Department of Licenses & Inspections and that the building's owners owed $72,000 in back taxes and unpaid utilities. The property was also on track to be seized by the city and auctioned off.
A grand jury was convened to investigate whether criminal negligence was present, but nearly two years later the investigation remains open.
Diane Neary also filed a lawsuit against the building's owners, Nahman Lichtenstein and Yechial Lichtenstein of Brooklyn and Toby Moskovits.
Rebecca Swanson, spokeswoman for the Department of Licenses & Inspections, said her agency has spent the past three years putting a vacant property strategy in place. She says L&I already developed a database of abandoned properties and has been working to inspect them all.
So far, she says, L&I inspectors have checked on 13,000 of some 25,000 properties and that about 8,500 property owners were cited for violations. They're also trained to write fire code violations, she said.
"We do evaluate properties from the outside and make known and cite all violations that can be seen," she said. As is the case with anyone, officials are not allowed to enter a building without obtaining an emergency order from a judge. Entering without approved probable cause would violate the Fourth Amendment.
When openings, where squatters or vandals could enter a building are found, owners are given five days to fix the issue, Swanson said. If they don't comply, city crews will seal them up with plywood or masonry and then bill the owner for the cost.
Swanson said L&I already shares data with the fire department and asks that anyone who has a problem vacant property in their neighborhood should contact 311.
O'Brien introduced the ordinance to Philadelphia City Council on Thursday. The law will have to undergo several hearings before it could be voted on for passage.
Pictured: Lt. Robert Neary (L) and Firefighter Daniel Sweeney (R).
Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.
The man accused of using Swiss cheese to sexually proposition women in the Philadelphia area will have to wait a few months to face trial on flashing charges.
Christopher Pagano, the man accused of being the so-called “Swiss Cheese Pervert,” posted 10 percent of $30,000 bail earlier this month after being arraigned on stalking, indecent exposure and harassment charges.
Pagano's trial was supposed to begin at 11 a.m. Thursday in front of Judge Wendy Pew, according to Common Pleas Court documents.
However, the trial was pushed back to April 10 instead, according to the court.
Two weeks ago, police arrested Pagano at his home on Noble Street in Norristown as part of a joint investigation between Philadelphia and Norristown Police.
Pagano, who turns 42 next month, was allegedly spotted driving up to women and asking them if they would like to get paid to see him put Swiss cheese on his genitals. He was arrested on suspicion that he is the man caught on camera holding up a piece of cheese while wearing no pants, officials said.
One woman, who said she was approached by the suspect, talked publicly about her experience.
"He told me he liked to put Swiss cheese on his private area," said Priscilla, who asked that her last name be kept anonymous.
The woman said she was sitting at a light along busy Henry Avenue near Philadelphia University in the East Falls section of the city in early December when the man allegedly propositioned her.
Recording part of the incident with her smartphone, you can hear her asking the man "Why do you have Swiss cheese in your car?" She also snapped a picture of the alleged suspect -- holding up the cheese, just like in other pictures captured of him.
Priscilla, who was driving in the car with her cousins, said she thought it was a joke at first, but when they reached another light at Fox Street, the man allegedly had his pants down. Upset by the sight, they quickly drove off.
"Now I'm freaked out because I know it wasn't just a joke," she told NBC10.com.
The woman is one of a handful of victims to come forward and detail the alleged indecent exposure by the man. Investigators say the suspect also exposed himself to other women while offering them money to watch him put Swiss cheese on his privates in several neighborhoods in Philadelphia and Montgomery County -- including Port Richmond, Norristown and Mayfair.
A crash involving several cars and a tractor trailer shut down the southbound lanes of I-295 in Burlington County, N.J. for a brief time on Thursday.
The truck and three cars collided just after 2 p.m. on Thursday near exit 52 in Columbus, N.J.
The collision sent antifreeze and oil spraying all over the roadway. Crews spread sand to clear up the mess.
Cars backed up for at least at least two miles as emergency crews worked at the scene.
New Jersey State Police reopened two lanes of the road around 2:30 p.m., but a third lane remained closed until 3:15 p.m., officials said.
Police did not have an exact number of people who suffered injuries, but said all of the cases were non-life-threatening.
Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Research and Development, which has operations in Springhouse, Pa., entered into a agreement Thursday that will lead to the company's clinical trial data becoming available to all researchers.
The agreement was made with the Yale School of Medicine as part of its Open Data Access project — known as YODA.
YODA team members will serve as an independent body to review requests from investigators and physicians seeking access to clinical trial data — scrubbed clean of patient identity information — from Janssen, which encompasses the pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). YODA will make final decisions on data sharing. Read more about this story on PBJ.com
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The City of Philadelphia takes serving its citizens seriously and reaching city government is a snap for residents through the Philly 311 Call Center, which just celebrated its fifth year anniversary December 31. Citizens may get answers to city questions by simply dialing 311.
"It’s really City Hall in the palm of your hand. You call that one number, easy to remember – 311. You don’t even need to know anybody at City Hall to get things done. This is about treating our citizens like customers," said Rich Negrin, deputy mayor and managing director.
Just a week before its five-year anniversary, the six millionth call came into the contact center. The call was underwhelming, a question about trash, but it was a major milestone for the operation.
"It’s exciting, something different every day. You never know what you are going to get. It’s pretty fulfilling knowing that you are going to help the citizens of Philadelphia," said Morris Hobson, who's been taking 311 calls for the past two years.
"There’s a number of crazy calls we get from people asking for the number to ShopRite and to wanting to just vent sometimes. Sometimes we are acting as operators and sometimes as therapists, just friends."
Since the center launched, the average call length is 3:07 minutes, and the wait time is less than 40 seconds, according to Negrin.
"What 311 does is it actually gets people involved. It’s really a good community engagement organization. It gets businesses together to clean up their area. It helps (connect people) with the police, fire and L&I," said Barbara Kelley, of the Point Breeze Community Development Corporation.
Kelley is one of 900 neighborhood liaisons who facilitiate requests in their communities. One such request was to make the city aware of a home that became an eye soar in the 1900 block of Titan Street. After the issue was reported via 311 and the property improved, the block saw a transformation.
Since its inception, Philly 311 has not seen a drop off in the number of calls. Every year, there's been more than 1 million calls into the center. Rosetta Lue of the office of the Managing Director believes it's because the customer service experience has been good and citizens tell their friends about the service and the swift results.
There are 40 contact center agents, or operators, that take the public's calls from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each weekday. The agents faciliate service requests and handle questions not relatred to city government by directing callers to the information they are seeking.
Recently, Philly 311 has added digital channels to its customer service. Citizens may contact the call center via a mobile app, email, website and on social media. There have been 23,904 mobile app service requests to date and 48,355 visits to the walk-in facility in City Hall. The most popular service requests are about residential maintenance, trash collection, graffiti removal, street light outages and illegal dumping.
Contact Sarah Glover at 610-668-5580, sarah.glover@nbcuni.com or follow @skyphoto on Twitter.
The same convenience store has been held up numerous times in recent weeks by masked men and owners are serious about finding the suspects.
The most recent robbery at the Wawa store at Bustleton Pike and Levick Street in Northeast Philadelphia's Oxford Circle happened on Monday, January 15. Police say a man standing about 5-foot-10-inches tall and carrying a semi-automatic handgun entered the store as customers were inside early that morning.
In surveillance video released by police, you see the man -- wearing a black hood or shirt over his face -- run towards the entrance with a black bag covering his gun. As he enters the store around 1:40 a.m. he points the gun at employees and forces his way behind the counter. The employee hands over money from the register and the suspect grabs a carton of cigarettes before fleeing the store.
The man left through an employee exit and then jumped a fence onto the rear alley.
Luckily no one was hurt.
A $5,000 reward was offered nearly two months ago for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a masked man who robbed the same Wawa store more than once before. The reward was increased to $10,000 after the January 13 incident.
Today, that reward was upped to $15,000. The reward is being offered by Wawa in conjunction with the Citizens Crime Commission and Northeast Philadelphia Police Detectives.
"We have increased the amount of the reward with the hope that we can expedite bringing the perpetrator of these crimes to justice," said a press release from Wawa.
Since October the store has been hit four other times by masked robbers.
An armed man, wearing a “Scream” mask like the one worn in the horror-movie franchise, entered the store on Nov. 26 and demanded money, according to Philadelphia Police. An employee handed over an undisclosed amount of cash from the registered and the masked man fled from the store.
Police officers at that time told NBC10 that they believe this same suspect struck the store before -- captured on surveillance video.
It's unclear if the thief in the most recent incident is the same person.
The earlier thefts also featured masked robbers coming in between 3 to 4 a.m. and demanding money. In an Oct. 1 incident, two masked men burst into the store and made off with cash. Then, on Nov. 4 a masked man made off with cash from the register.
Finally, on Nov. 21, a man in a "Scream" masked burst in and demanded money.
A nearby Wawa store on Krewstown Road was also held up in late December.
Wawa says it has taken measure to try and prevent thefts at its stores: "The safety and security of our associates and customers is of utmost importance to us. Our priority is always to ensure the safety and security of our associates and our customers at this store, and we have been pursuing all avenues..."
Anyone with information should contact police and/or call Northeast Detectives at 215-686-3153.
Beyoncé is one of the world's most scrutinized pop stars, and now that study is moving to academia.
The Department of Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University is offering a course called "Politicizing Beyoncé.''
Kevin Allred, a doctoral student who is teaching the class, tells the university's online news site that he is using Beyoncé's career as a way to explore American race, gender and sexual politics.
The class supplements an analysis of Beyoncé's videos and lyrics with readings from Black feminists. Allred says he's seeking to help students think more critically about media consumption.
Rutgers also has a class examining the theology of Bruce Springsteen's lyrics.
Georgetown University has a class called ``The Sociology of Hip-Hop: The Urban Theodicy of Jay-Z,'' focusing on Beyoncé's rapper husband.
course called ``Politicizing Beyoncé.''
Kevin Allred, a doctoral student who is teaching the class, tells the university's online news site that he is using Beyoncé's career as a way to explore American race, gender and sexual politics.
The class supplements an analysis of Beyoncé's videos and lyrics with readings from Black feminists. Allred says he's seeking to help students think more critically about media consumption.
Rutgers also has a class examining the theology of Bruce Springsteen's lyrics.
Georgetown University has a class called ``The Sociology of Hip-Hop: The Urban Theodicy of Jay-Z,'' focusing on Beyoncé's rapper husband.
Do you hate doing your taxes? Over the years the tax system has evolved, becoming more complicated for some who require outside help.
February 1 marks the first day that you may file your U.S. tax return. With tax code modifications each year, you may have questions related to filling out your tax return. Certified public accountant Steve Rossman, a shareholder at Drucker & Scaccetti, will be answering your tax questions Friday morning from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. on the NBC10 Facebook page.
You may post your tax questions in the comments section and Rossman will respond. Your questions and the answers may appear on-air in the newscast.
If you are dreading doing your taxes this season, don’t blame the Internal Revenue Service for making it so hard. After all, it’s the nation’s elected officials who have passed all those tax laws over the years — for better or for worse. More on NBC News here.
A gas explosion ignited three homes and injuring two gas company employees and one resident in South Philadelphia Thursday night.
The explosion in the basement of a home on the 1800 block of South Bancroft Street happened just after 7 p.m., according to Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers.
SkyForce10 was over the scene where fire officials say two Philadelphia Gas Works employees were in the basement of the home when a gas-fueled explosion ignited a fire. The explosion, South Philly residents say, could be heard from eight blocks away.
"It sounded like, you know, a bomb went off," said resident Joe DeLulo.
The fire quickly spread to two other homes.
"I ran out of my house," said another resident.
Both employees and one resident were injured in the explosion and transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.The extent of their injuries are unknown.
PGW representative Melanie McCuttry told NBC10 that they employees were sent to South Bancroft around 5:30 to investigate reports of a possible gas leak. Gas was shut off to all homes on the block except for the house where the explosion took place and the one next door.
Officials continue to investigate what caused the explosion.
For the second time in as many weeks, a purse snatching has turned into a shooting in the city.
An unidentified man and his girlfriend came out of a home near 26th Street and Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia just before midnight when a man ran up and grabbed the 23-year-old woman’s purse.
The suspect took about $300 out of the purse before tossing it away as he ran down the street.
“Immediately when they came down the steps a male -- thin built with a tattoo on his face -- snatched the girlfriend’s purse and the doer began running east on Lehigh,” said Philadelphia Police Capt. George Fuchs. “He started going through the purse and he actually took the money and dropped the purse.
The woman’s 24-year-old boyfriend gave chase and that’s when the suspect turned around a fired a revolver -- striking the man once in the chest.
Officers scooped up the victim and rushed him to Temple University Hospital in critical condition.
“I think they were both surprised that this guy came out of nowhere and started running,” said Fuchs.
Police recovered the purse minus $300.
Later in the morning, police announced that two people in the case were taken into custody and expected to be charged.
Last week, a young architect walking down the street with her mother was shot and killed during a purse snatching in Northern Liberties. Two suspects in that case remain on the loose.
A pregnant woman and her boyfriend came home to find their new home ransacked with five masked men inside.
“All five were wearing ski masks and all five had guns,” said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.
Small described what police discovered shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday when they responded to the home on the 400 block of W Venango Street in North Philadelphia.
“All five were wearing ski masks and all five had guns,” said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.
The men then tied up the 24-year-old woman, who is two months pregnant, and her 38-year-old boyfriend.
“They used duct tape to tie the ankles of both the residents as well as they duct taped and gagged the mouth of the (man).”
The men also pistol-whipped the man and handcuffed both residents before dragging them into the basement.
The men tore through the home before leaving. The woman was able to bite the duct tape off the man’s face and they then called police. Firefighters had to cut off the handcuffs.
The attack left the man in the hospital in stable condition. The woman was hospitalized for observation.
Small said the residents didn’t know exactly what was taken during the home invasion.
An investigation showed that at least one of the masked men climbed in through a second-floor rear window then allowed in the others through a back door.
Small said the renovated house, which the couple only moved into a few months ago, was “completely ransacked.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia Police.
