For Engineering and Wharton sophomore Prateek Bhide, a day doesn't go by without hearing his classmates talk about grades. Though competition prepares students for future careers, he said, "most of the people I talk to in the workforce say GPA doesn't matter in the real world in getting

There's a light at the end of the reconstruction of South Street Bridge for the many students and city residents who have changed their commuting routines since the bridge's closure. When drafting the latest plans for the new bridge, developers opted for a pedestrian-friendly design, a fact that pleases many weary Penn commuters.

Although the Class of 2009 will graduate to a fiercely competitive job market, its Commencement speaker happens to head a company that annually tops Fortune magazine's "Best Places to Work" list. Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive officer and chairman, will speak at the 253rd Commencement Ceremonies on May 18 at Franklin Field.

In the face of the typical year-end onslaught of high-fat foods and rich holiday meals, some Penn employees left family gatherings lacking something - extra weight. The "Maintain, Don't Gain" program, run by the Health Promotion and Wellness division of Human Resources' Quality of Worklife Department , challenged participants to keep their weight after New Year's within two to three pounds of their starting weight as measured on the day before Thanksgiving.

With a billion-dollar budget gap to fill, city officials are asking West Philadelphian residents for help. Last night, The Penn Project for Civic Engagement hosted the fourth and final city-budget consultation forum in West Philadelphia. In line with the past meetings, more than 500 local residents attended to contribute to the budget decision-making that will soon start at City Hall.

Bower Field - home to club sports such as rugby, lacrosse, ultimate Frisbee and soccer - will be closing at the beginning of May to make way for the construction of Penn Park, an expansion of the current recreational and athletic facilities east of campus.

Opponents of the proposed Campus Inn extended-stay hotel project at 40th and Pine streets will have to wait a little longer to make their case. Their appeal of a Historical Commission decision allowing the project to move forward was scheduled to be heard yesterday before the Department of Licenses & Inspections Review Board.

Say you're a DJ for Penn's student-run radio station, WQHS. Your show airs at 8:00 p.m. every Wednesday, which is a great time - most of your friends can listen as they do homework. But right now you're not worrying about listenership, it's getting to the Hollenbeck Center, a good 30-minute walk to the no man's land of Penn's campus.

One-third of U.S. university nursing programs did not integrate international health into their curricula as recently as 2007, according to Wipada Kunaviktikul, but the School of Nursing is not one of them. The Nursing School kicked off its third-annual Global Health Reflections Week yesterday with a presentation by Kunaviktikul, a research fellow at Harvard University and a professor at Chiang Mai University in Thailand.

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

Though the state of the economy will likely increase requests for financial aid, most private colleges and universities, including Penn, are committed to maintaining their financial-aid policies and initiatives. The schools that have pledged to maintain financial-aid initiatives have been counteracting reduced budgets by pulling funds from other areas, which has resulted in firing administration and faculty members, cutting programs and freezing faculty

"For most, leadership is an acquired skill," said Michael Useem, director of the Wharton Leadership Center, during the preceptorial he hosted with University President Amy Gutmann yesterday. The preceptorial, entitled "Essence of Leadership," took place at 4:30 p.

While Penn students are expected to be proficient in English, no such requirement is made for their parents. To help with this dilemma, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions has been attempting to make the entire admissions process easier for prospective students' parents who are not fluent in English by providing admissions and financial-aid information in Spanish, one of the most common native languages for international students.

Two days ago, Philadelphia Newspapers LLC - publisher of Philadelphia's two dailies, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News, as well as the printer of The Daily Pennsylvanian - filed for bankruptcy protection preventatively. The announcement, unfortunately, was not unexpected.

Penn junior 125-pound wrestler Rollie Peterkin likes trying new positions. Indeed, it was the reigning EIWA wrestler of the week's versatility on the mat that coach Rob Eiter credits in No. 11 Peterkin's 12-4 thrashing of Penn State's No. 13 Brad Pataky Friday.

The Penn basketball team sure kept the statisticians busy this weekend. After confirming that Dartmouth swept Penn for the first time since 1959 Friday, they revealed that Harvard's 66-60 win over the Quakers Saturday was its first at the Palestra since 1991.

Another weekend sweep at the Palestra is likely to leave Penn fans in consternation about the state of the program. Such has been the case after every bad outing at home, regardless of the context. But if anything, the way in which the Quakers lost demonstrated exactly what is wrong with the program right now.