As the number of general thefts in the Penn patrol zone continues to rise, the number of violent crimes has decreased in comparison to this time last year. Crime totals in the area this January remained steady compared to the same month last year, with 60 crimes reported in both 2007 and 2008.

The nation as a whole is getting older, but the process doesn't have to be painful. Penn researchers are investigating cures for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases to improve the quality of life for both patients and their caretakers. "Penn has traditionally had strengths in neuroscience and the strengths are not just in one department," said John Trojanowski, co-director of Penn's Institute on Aging and guest editor of a Neurosignals issue featuring Penn research on diseases like dementia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

During junior year, everyone wants to know where you're studying abroad. But for around 75 percent of Penn's junior class each year, the answer is "nowhere." Whether for obligations on campus or to stay on-track with coursework, a majority of students have legitimate reasons for remaining in Philadelphia all four years.

The Grand Old Party might be able to celebrate a new nominee by tonight. Twenty-one states will vote today for the Republican presidential nomination and pressure could not be greater with over half of all delegates at stake. The Republican race has whittled down to four remaining candidates: John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

He was featured in a documentary at the international Sundance Film Festival last month in Utah. Soon, his peers at Penn may be seeing him in theaters nationwide, even at next year's Academy Awards. College freshman Yoni Gruskin might be a rising movie star - but not for his acting skills.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new supermodel wife have received a great deal of media attention in the past few months. However, yesterday in Huntsman Hall, it was Pierre Vimont, French ambassador to the U.S., who found himself in the spotlight.

Engineering junior Joan Jose Martinez, a native of the Dominican Republic, can't vote in a presidential primary this spring. But that doesn't mean he's not paying attention to the election campaigns. "Of course I'm concerned with the outcome," he said. "Who becomes the president of the United States affects everyone in the world, whether they care for politics or not.

In the Nursing school, summer employment opportunities extend well beyond the halls of the local ER. Nursing students engage in a wide variety of summer jobs, from study abroad programs to community service. The most common course of action is the eventual enrollment in an externship program at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania or a hometown hospital.

The University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia may soon be at the center of a revolutionary international endeavor to control the global spread of infectious diseases. Penn's Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis and Response and Harvey Rubin, the institute's director, have developed an international plan to fight infectious diseases.

As the rain fell outside, a thoughtful crowd of 200 gathered in the transformed multipurpose room of the W.E.B. DuBois College House last Friday evening. Dimly lit and decorated in the red, black and green of the African American flag, the space invited guests to groove to notes of mellow jazz.

With ambitious initiatives on his agenda for 2008, Wharton Dean Thomas Robertson has a busy year ahead. Last Friday at the Wharton Undergraduate Leadership Forum, Robertson laid out his core strategies for the upcoming years, which include a Wharton campus expansion plan, the fundraising campaign and faculty recruitment.

If the price to pay for a semester abroad in Japan is eight weeks of couch-surfing, Wharton and College sophomore Baylee Feore is more than happy to live out of her suitcase. While waiting for the academic year to begin in April at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, Feore has been living with a different friend each week while she bides her time.

Can a picture of a trash be considered art? Depends on who you ask. Last Friday Fox Leadership hosted "Sustainable by Design," an environmental art gallery that focused on raising awareness of recycling, global warming and ecological architecture. The event coincides with RecycleMania, a 10-week campus-wide initiative to reduce waste.

Standing lonely on the corner of 36th and Chestnut streets, the 'Big Belly' looks like any other trash can - barring the solar panels on its top. The quirky design serves a purpose. Big Belly is the first solar-powered compacting trash can in Philadelphia.

The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly has a new agenda and set of priorities for the semester, said Alina Badus, vice chair for communications for GAPSA. One of the biggest policy priorities for the semester is the issue of increasing graduate student stipends at Penn The stipend has been the central issue within the GAPSA Research Council for the last six months, SASgov GAPSA representative Lucas Champollion wrote in an e-mail.

Though recent changes in the nation's largest student-loan company's lending policy will halt private loans for some students nationwide, most experts say the changes are unlikely to affect Penn students. Sallie Mae, which has about 10 million customers enrolled in a variety of publicly and privately funded loan programs, announced on Jan.

The renovation and development of Penn's campus was the overarching topic at yesterday's Undergraduate Assembly meeting, the time of which was moved up to 1:30 p.m. from the usual 9 p.m. due to the Super Bowl. Attendance was not mandatory for UA members due to the changed time, leading to a significantly shorter meeting than usual.