After six years of failed tries and much debate, Philadelphia has a smoking ban. Mayor John Street signed a bill yesterday that will prohibit smoking in almost all public places in the city. The ban goes into effect immediately and provides exemptions to a few sets of establishments.

Coach Al Bagnoli has a problem. But it's the kind of problem that coaches love to have.

Pennsylvania got a failing mark for the affordability of its colleges earlier this month, according to an annual "report card" by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a nonpartisan think tank based in San Jose, Calif.

The Penn tennis teams won the Ivy title and finished second last year, but that wasn't enough.

There's a little extra riding on the Penn-Cornell field hockey game for Quakers goalie Liz Schlossberg.

Graduate Employees Together-University of Pennsylvania's Bill Herman suggests ("A Year Later, NYU TAs Back in Class," DP, 9/12/06) that the reason his group hasn't repeated strike action since the two-day protest in spring 2004 is because "things are pretty stable here right now."

Penn has been ranked second in the nation among 25 "Best Neighbor" urban schools recognized for their contributions to their local communities. Created by New England Board of Higher Education president Evan Dobelle, the rankings take into account the length of involvement with the community, the amount of money invested, faculty and students in community service, K-12 school partnerships and resources donated by alumni, among other categories.

If a season simulation on "Dynasty Mode" of EA Sports' NCAA Football 2007 is in any way a harbinger for Penn's upcoming season, then the Quakers are in deep trouble.

As senior wide receiver Matt Carre prepares to take the field for the Quakers' season opener tomorrow, he will be focused on helping his team reverse the downward spiral of last season.

Anyone who has eaten a meal at 1920 Commons in the past four years cannot have missed the colorful display of hands in various gestures of expression.

If Ivy League teams are going to beat Penn this year, they'll have to do it through the air.

After trips to rural Pennsylvania and upstate New York, the men's soccer team is finally ready to play at Rhodes Field.

Tabard and Owls not secret enough for you? Check out an ancient enclave of the famous Freemasons at the Grand Masonic Lodge Temple in Philadelphia. Located across the street from City Hall at 1 North Broad St., the temple is one of three of its size in the world, said Andrew Zellers-Frederick, executive director of the Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania

WILMINGTON, Del. - State prosecutors worked to recreate the scene of the crime for jurors yesterday in opening their first-degree murder case against Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya.

It started when former Penn student and current Harvard University junior Dhruv Singh wanted a classmate's opinion on his Penn econ homework. Frustrated because he couldn't find an online group where he could complain and solicit his classmates for help, Singh decided to do something about it: He created his own.

After a less-than-stellar 2005 season, Penn has been picked to finish second this year in last month's media poll.

Here's a new spin on university rankings: Apparently, the best schools are the ones with champion ultimate-frisbee teams.