In the wake of Virginia Tech, PennAlert is necessary and well-conceived

The difference between this year's and last year's women's volleyball team is night and day, according to coach Kerry Carr. And the difference is the incoming freshmen, who in many ways compose the strongest recruiting class that Penn has had in years.

Members of the 1,200-strong Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania went on a brief strike yesterday, protesting problems with mandated GPS and credit card systems in their cabs. Originally planned for 48 hours, the strike was scheduled to end today at 6 a.

A city-run Philly Bike Share program funded by Penn would be a boon to Philly and the University

Even among unplanned departures, Stetson's case is a strange one for a university that has seen its fair share of faculty and staff scandal.

252Locally-owned bridges in the Philadelphia area which are considered structurally deficient.Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

When former Wharton Dean Patrick Harker left Penn, eight others followed, forcing the business school to rebuild much of its upper administration. But don't be surprised by the exodus: It was to be expected, experts say. Three administrators - Monica Taylor, executive director of external affairs and the Wharton Fund, Patricia Plummer Wilson, Wharton chief of staff and director of faculty administration and Scott Douglass, vice president for finance and treasurer for the University -- followed Harker to the University of Delaware, where Harker has assumed the presidency.

Fear of the Freshman 15 is not the only reason new students are thinking about food. The University chose Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma for this year's Penn Reading Project, for which freshmen are assigned a book to read over the summer. The book tracks different meals from their start on the farm to their finale on the dinner table - everything from a hunter's catch to a McDonald's meal.

Two years after Hurricane Katrina, members of the Penn community are responding to residual issues plaguing the New Orleans and Mississippi communities. Connie Hoe and Namhee Yun, two recent graduates of Penn's School of Social Policy and Practice, and first-year SP2 graduate student Crystal Lucas spent last July in Pearlington - a small town located on the western border of Mississippi - addressing the mental-health needs of local residents.

Over a dozen American universities received bomb threats within the past ten days, though no explosives were found at any of the threatened sites. The Federal Bureau of Investigations is still examining the apparent hoaxes. "We're working with the college and university police and the local police to investigate these matters," FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko said.

Ellen Robb's death was a personal attack made by someone who wanted her face bludgeoned so badly that she became "hardly recognizable as a human being," according to two mental-health professionals. But the lawyer for Rafael Robb, the Economics professor who will face trial this fall in connection with the death of Ellen, his wife, wants to bar that expert testimony from court.

After two mistrials, the stage is set for the third act of the Irina Malinovskaya murder-trial saga. Jury selection began yesterday for the next trial of Malinovskaya, a Wharton undergraduate accused of murder, Delaware state prosecution spokesman Jason Miller said.

Ouch. As if Penn's kicking game needed more question marks. Freshmen Trevor Charlston and Dave Kuncio, along with sophomore A.J. Nobile have suffered setbacks in recent practices, coach Al Bagnoli said yesterday. Nonetheless, Nobile - who has never kicked for Penn - has emerged as the frontrunner.

The sudden vacancy of the dean of admissions post has led to a temporary replacement: Eric Kaplan. Kaplan, who used to work as the University's Associate Secretary, managing academic programs like Convocation and Commencement, will serve as dean through the end of this academic year, when Penn hopes to name a more permanent replacement.

Keith Devine, a former Huntsman Hall Au Bon Pain employee who was wanted in connection with a March 25 murder, has been apprehended. Devine, 26, was arrested by the Philadelphia Police on August 16. He faces charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy to engage in murder and other offenses related to the March shooting death of Jovonne Stelly on the 5800 block of Pentridge Street.

Theft Aug. 28 - Two juveniles were arrested by the Penn Police for allegedly attempting to remove secured bicycles from a bike rack at 415 Curie Blvd. by cutting the locks at about 1:45 p.m. Aug. 28 - A male unaffiliated with the University reported that an offender broke into his secured vehicle and removed his GPS device at about 5:30 a.

Forty-five months. That's how long the Class of 2011 has to prove that they "truly rule," Penn President Amy Gutmann said last night at Convocation. Gutmann officially welcomed the incoming class and transfer students out on a majestically lit College Green during the annual ceremony.