The Common Application, credited in large part for Penn's record high number of applicants last year, is getting some competition. Baltimore-based company ApplicationsOnline unveiled the Universal College Application late last month. The application is designed to be more inclusive according to its Web site.

Tom Sollecito, associate dean for academic affairs at the Penn School of Dental Medicine, will act as dean of the school until current Dean Marjorie Jeffcoat recovers from an illness. Jeffcoat is currently being treated in the intensive care unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, according to a memorandum from President Amy Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels.

580Pounds a Tennessee couple collectively lost recently. The husband and wife, currently 220 and 140 pounds, respectively, attribute their success to faith in God.Source: CNN.com

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell made an appearance at Penn's School of Nursing last Friday to sign five bills as part of his Prescription for Pennsylvania health-care reform package. This legislation will directly broaden the scope of nursing practice in Pennsylvania and aims to curb soaring health-care costs while making care more accessible to low income individuals and families.

By Sept. 14, full-time students will have to either buy the Penn Student Insurance Plan or show Penn that they have their own insurance. Many will be covered by their parents' plans, but some - including graduate students and College of General Studies students - will have to start looking around now at their health care choices.

Twenty years, the place we call Penn today was a much different institution. The bulk of its applications were sent from Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. The student body wasn't what you could call diverse. And "The University of Pennsylvania" was a name that relatively few knew.

Back in January, Gov. Ed Rendell announced his "Prescription for Pennsylvania," a comprehensive plan aimed at making quality health care accessible and affordable for all, particularly for low-income residents. Last Friday, in the School of Nursing's Fagin Hall, Rendell signed some of the first such pieces of legislation.

For students in the School of Arts and Sciences, deliverance from the crash-prone Webmail system has finally arrived. SAS administrators are currently enrolling students in a new e-mail service from Microsoft Corp., called Penn Live. After picking Microsoft to provide the alternative e-mail service in April, University officials worked with the company to set up the accounts and are now are sending out invitations to around 500 students per day to ensure a smooth transition to the system, said SAS Vice Dean of Administration and Finance Ramin Sedehi.

Burglary July 16 - At about 8:20 a.m., a 42-year-old man unaffiliated with the University reported to Philadelphia Police that someone entered a house on the 4200 block of Walnut Street while it was under renovation. No force was used, and power tools were removed.

It's needless to say that the first meeting between Hamilton Southeastern and Fishers High Schools was a big game for the players on both sides - the schools were combined as one just a year before. And incoming freshmen football players and twins Nate and Josh Powers teamed up to leave their mark on the game.

A string of robberies and assaults committed by juveniles occurred around campus at the beginning of July, but the violent crimes appear to have abated over the past two weeks. The most recent assault reported to have been committed by juveniles in the Penn patrol zone occurred on July 11.

Good news, Quakers fans: the next Matt Valenti may be just around the corner. Zack Kemmerer has built a name for himself in his own right and will likely continue to do so. However, it is difficult not to compare him with Valenti, Penn's winningest wrestler of all-time and a two-time national champion at 133 pounds.

Eber Devine, accused of sexually harassing a woman in Van Pelt Library, has had many previous encounters with the law throughout his lifetime, including various instances at Penn. Devine, 38, of the 1700 block of North Lambert Street, is facing eight charges relating to his alleged sexual harassment of Conshohocken resident Aleshia Endy in a third-floor study room of Van Pelt Library July 3.

The words "summer school" don't have much of a ring to them. Hard for them to, since they conjure up images of miscreant children making up for the cumulative effects of failed English papers about, say, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Drilling and filling a tooth isn't something most kids know how to do, but high school sophomores and juniors participating in the Penn Summer Mentorship Program are honing skills just like these. Sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the School District of Philadelphia, the mentorship program offers study for four weeks on Penn's campus in six different academic fields: dental medicine, education, nursing, law, medicine and engineering.

A preliminary hearing for a man accused of sexually harassing a woman in Van Pelt Library earlier this month was postponed yesterday morning. The hearing, which determines whether the case will go to trial, was rescheduled to Aug. 9 because the victim didn't appear in court.