CAMPUS BRIEFS: Thursday, February 6, 1997

Suspect pleads guilty to robbing students Philadelphia resident Rodderick Martin -- who worked as a security guard for Temple University -- pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree robbery. Each count carries a maximum 20-year sentence. Martin's sentencing is scheduled for March 19, nearly one year after he robbed the two students. The 34-year-old is currently free on $30,000 bail, but Common Pleas Court Judge Lynn Bennett Hamlin ordered him to stay away from the University campus as a condition of the bail, Cohen said. University Police Detective John Peterson explained that the students had been returning from the Class of 1923 Ice Rink on the evening of March 28. Martin approached the students near Hill House at 33rd and Walnut streets and robbed them by showing a bulge in his jacket pocket that he said was a gun and threatening to shoot if they did not give him their money. He robbed the students of approximately $20 in cash. Cohen said Hamlin denied his request for an increase in Martin's bail. He added that Martin apologized to the students in court after pleading guilty. -- Scott Lanman