As the fiscal year wraps up and next year's budget guidelines are finalized, Penn salaries will take a hit from the economy, though not one as severe as the blow some peer schools face. Penn released its guidelines for 2009-2010 faculty and staff pay increases in last week's Almanac.

Omega isn't the average secret senior society. While Penn's other senior societies - which selected their newest members earlier this month - bring together student leaders from across campus, Omega has a distinctly Greek focus. Penn's Order of Omega's are cherry-picked from Greek chapters, representing "the cream of the crop," according to Scott Reikofski, director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.

Janice Dow is a College sophomore from Los Angeles. Her e-mail address is dow@dailypennsylvanian.com.

The Division of Public Safety responded to 38 Spring Fling-related incidents this year, an increase of 58 percent from 24 last year. The number of hospital cases went up from 19 last year to 24 this year. The majority of the individuals hospitalized were female.

Violent crime has dropped significantly since Drexel University unveiled its new police department, according to Drexel's Senior Associate Vice President for Public Safety Domenic Ceccanecchio. New manpower and state-of-the-art technology means Drexel now has a public safety program comprable to that of Penn and Temple University, and University safety officials say the developments are positive for the area.

Tomorrow is Earth Day, the celebration of all things nature (and a possible extension of yesterday's festivities for some). Though I'm not entirely certain of the difference between Earth Day and Arbor Day (something about deciduous?), Obama said the environment was important so I'm celebrating both this year.

Phillies catchers Chris Coste and Carlos Ruiz may have been the big-name draws to the event sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Action Sunday night, but Penn security guard Carl Wilson stole the show. Wilson won the night's raffle - a basket full of Phillies paraphernalia including two tickets to a game against the Mets - and then quickly gave it away.

After graduating from Division II Holy Family, new women's basketball coach Mike McLaughlin spent three seasons with the Washington Generals - the long-time nemeses of the Harlem Globetrotters - where he served as team captain and played in over 50 countries.

Despite significant increases in the numbers of applicants to Penn's Ph.D. programs, the number of acceptances at most schools will remain relatively similar to past years. Some schools, such as the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Medicine, Graduate School of Education and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, saw smaller increases in applications, while others, such as Wharton and the Annenberg School for Communication, reported much larger increases.

Members of the Penn Democrats are looking west of campus to encourage civic engagement in high-school students. The group is two weeks into a pilot program that delivers interactive civics workshops in an after-school program at West Philadelphia's Sayre High School.

By JIN PYUO LEE Staff Writer lee@dailypennsylvanian.com With funding from the National Institute on Aging, Penn's School of Medicine launched a new study that aims to to identify genes that influence the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The National Institute on Aging, a division of the National Institutes of Health, will provide $18.

Andrew Shatte wants to turn the fight against global warming into a war.

According to a recent report by Pew Research Center, Philadelphians are more optimistic than the rest of the country - even though they consume a record high of cigarettes and have dismal job prospects. At a time when only 20 percent of the U.S. population answered that the country is headed in the right direction, 46 percent of Philadelphians look forward to the city's future.

Ilana Millner is a College junior from Washington Crossing, Pa. Her e-mail address is millner@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Da Vinci, Newton, Franklin: meet Rawlings. Ted Rawlings, that is. Penn Athletics' very own Renaissance man. The sophomore has his hand in four different Penn varsity programs.

This past weekend, roughly 200 prospective students attended Multicultural Scholars' Weekend, a preview weekend geared toward minority students accepted to Penn's Class of 2013. The weekend - which lasted Sunday through Tuesday - is an integral part of Penn's efforts to build a community of traditionally underrepresented students, according to director of multicultural recruitment David Toomer.

Last week, the Columbia Spectator wrote about the college's plan to add a sustainable-development major for fall 2010. Cited as "trans-disciplinary," the major would encompass multiple topics and include a fieldwork component. This degree program - which sounds like old-school environmental studies on steroids - will be the undergraduate arm within the school's Earth Institute, which works to "help achieve sustainable development primarily by expanding the world's understanding of Earth as one integrated system," according to its Web site.