While attending college in Philadelphia, Nick Miccarelli's experience was twice interrupted to serve in the military overseas. The 2007 Penn alumnus and Iraq War veteran has long been preparing for a life of service - he completed basic training with the Pennsylvania National Guard before finishing high school - and is now running for a position in Pennsylvania's General Assembly.

Jennifer Lesser is a College junior from Minneapolis, Minn. Her e-mail address is lesser@dailypennsylvanian.com.

It's all about location, location, location. Foxwoods Casino and state and local officials announced at a press conference yesterday that the casino would consider building its planned multi-million dollar venue at the Gallery shopping center near 10th and Market streets.

Compared to the freshmen of a century ago, this year's Class of 2012 has it relatively easy. Unlike their forbearers, they face no threat of violence or hazing if they forget to wear "freshman beanies," walk on "sacred spaces," or are seen with a member of the opposite sex - just three of the many regulations listed on the broadsheets on display at Van Pelt Library's exhibit, "Oh Fresh! Sophomore Proclamations of Freshman Rules, 1866-WWII.

Franklin Field, the oldest active football stadium in the United States, has undergone many historic changes over the years. It housed the nation's first scoreboard and in 1925, became both the largest football facility and the first with an upper deck. But thanks to a recent discovery as part of the University's expansion and renovation of the east end of campus, Penn is turning back the clock.

Safiya Shabazz, a family-care physician at the Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center, expects this fall's work on the South Street Bridge to be a "huge inconvenience." Nursing graduate student Alexis Udalovas groans that, "It's going to be terrible." The two are concerned about the Philadelphia Streets Department's plan to reconstruct the bridge starting this fall - a major engineering feat that will close the bridge to all traffic for about two years.

Students whose expensive cultural tastes are stifled by less-than-extravagant budgets are now in luck. On Sept. 25 the Philadelphia Orchestra will host a free concert to kick off its new student-membership program, eZseatU. eZseatU is a subscription to a series of Philadelphia Orchestra concerts offered exclusively to college students.

The doctor looked at me apologetically. "I'm sorry," he said. No, it wasn't a bad prognosis. I wasn't about to die. The doctor was apologizing for the inadequacy of the medical system in America generally and at Penn specifically. "It's just not a good system," he added.

Two Penn students walk into a bar. The DJ says to them, "Why are you talking to that girl?" Then, bouncers come and beat the two guys until one of them loses consciousness. If this joke doesn't seem very funny to you, that's because it wasn't a joke.

Janice Dow is a College sophomore from Rowland Heights, CA. Her e-mail address is dow@dailypennsylvanian.com.

One Penn professor is in Switzerland today to test drive the largest particle accelerator ever built. Physics professor Hugh "Brig" Williams traveled across the Atlantic to fine-tune Penn's contribution to the Large Hadron Collider. The LHC is located at the European Organization for Nuclear Research laboratory near Geneva and is the world's highest-energy particle accelerator.

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Two robberies were reported near campus over the weekend. A 52-year-old woman was threatened at gunpoint on the 4000 block of Pine Street at about 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, according to Capt. Benjamin Naish of the Philadelphia police. The man approached the woman from the rear, displayed a black gun and demanded money, Naish said.

The Obama-Biden campaign opened 35 new offices in Pennsylvania yesterday, bringing the total number of offices in the state to 65, according to a campaign press release. These openings come as the campaign enters its final eight weeks. "To mark the eight-week home stretch, volunteers will register 8,888 new voters on college campuses alone this week," the press release said.

During Saturday's game with Rutgers, the Penn field hockey team had trouble winning loose-ball battles. Coach Val Cloud set out to remedy the problem in this week's practices, and the Red and Blue (1-1) will be immediately tested, as they host a speedy Saint Joseph's squad tonight at Franklin Field.

As freshman Ursula Lopez-Palm watched her rebound soar over Pittsburgh goalie Morie Kephart's head and into the back of the net, she started jumping up and down during what she called a "surreal" moment. "[My teammates] made fun of me a little for my celebration dance," Lopez-Palm admitted.

In my ninth grade sex-ed class Ms. Dorado one day tried to explain that the use of the word "gay" as a pejorative could be quite offensive. "No, no Ms. Dorado," retorted a classmate of mine. "We don't use it to offend anyone. We just use it to say that something is stupid.