NEWS BRIEFS: Thursday, June 17, 1999

No one injured during Game Gallery robbery The suspect has been identified only as a light-skinned black male, 20 to 25 years old, wearing a white T-shirt, dark pants, a black fisherman's hat and carrying two black backpacks. The suspect -- whose name and age have not been released -- reported that the assailant entered the store sometime after 11 a.m. and repeatedly asked to sample various video games. When the complainant went into a room in the back of the store to get an item for the customer, the assailant allegedly turned off the lights and attacked the complainant from behind. According to King, the district manager was able to loosen his arms from the tape enough to be able to gesture for help from the store's window. King said that both the University Police and the Philadelphia Police Department will be investigating the case, but neither force has yet identified any suspects. Manny Metsikas, the 28-year-old owner of the chain, said he had "never had a problem with this location before" and still has no intentions of closing the store. -- Eric Tucker Penn HIV Testing Site to move to Chestnut Hall Penn's anonymous HIV Testing Site, which has offered free testing and counseling to more than 1,000 students, faculty and staff members and West Philadelphia residents over the past five years, will relocate to Chestnut Hall at 39th and Chestnut streets effective July 7, officials from the Office of Health Education announced yesterday. The site had been located inside the Dental School since October 1993. But now, with plans for a $22 million state-of-the art-Dental School facility, the testing site was forced to find another location. According to Kurt Conklin, an educator in the Office of Health Education, all people interested in being tested for HIV receive free counseling -- on topics ranging from what to do if the test results are positive to what motivation is behind a person's visit -- prior to having their blood drawn. Conklin said that 85 percent of the HIV tests are conducted on Penn students, approximately half of which are graduate students. "Students tend to feel urgent about HIV after a crisis, such as a condom breaking," Conklin said. The site is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays by appointment only. -- E.T. Penn Solar Racing Team set to enter Sunrayce 99 Members of Penn's Solar Racing Team revved up their engines Monday and sped down to Washington, D.C. earlier this week to participate in Sunrayce 99, the largest solar car race in North America. The race, which begins on Sunday, pits 40 college and university teams against one another in a 1,300-mile, 10-day solar car race that starts in the nation's capital and ends in Epcot Center in Orlando, Fla. Penn's team is comprised of about 45 students from various Penn schools, around 25 of whom are participating in the race. The team has worked on the project -- which is entirely student-run -- for two years. The car -- which is expected to reach a speed as high as 70 miles per hour -- will operate as photons from sunlight release electrons, creating an electric field and a drop in voltage across the solar cells built into the car. The race is being primarily funded by University alumni and several corporations, which include Lockheed Martin, Deutsche Bank and First USA Bank and City Hotels. "It's really been a great experience for them," said Mechanical Engineering Professor John Bassani, who has aided the students on their project. -- E.T.