When Penn officials broke ground on Skirkanich Hall in October 2003, they claimed they were making a strong statement about the architectural vision for Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. And now, with the planning phase underway for the Singh Center for Nanotechnology - which will be built at 32nd and Walnut streets as part of the Penn Connects eastward expansion project - that vision is being realized.

A bill passed by the U.S. Congress eight years ago is slowly beginning to change the face of urban development in West Philadelphia. The Hub, an apartment and retail building located at 40th and Chestnut streets, was the first project in Pennsylvania to take advantage of the New Markets Tax Credit program, created as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000.

Could College Hall become the next campaign soapbox? Several university presidents have chosen to endorse a candidate in the 2008 presidential election, but Penn President Amy Gutmann says she will not be one of them. As nonprofit organizations, universities are legally prohibited from engaging in campaign-related activities, Political Science professor and Fels Institute director Don Kettl said.

An exhibition of photos and testimonies about the Israeli-occupied area of Hebron made its first stop in the United States, opening on Saturday night at the Rotunda to a hotbed of discussion. The exhibit is organized by an Israeli-based foundation known as "Breaking the Silence.

Last week, inexperienced medical students fumbled around in the emergency room, unable to locate IV bags or organize their efforts, as their patient's blood dripped to the floor. Fortunately, although their patient "died" that afternoon, there was no family to inform - it was all just a simulation.

International students entering the United States have to worry not only about their student visas and bank account, but also about a basic necessity to keep in touch with their families back home - a cell phone connection. Most mobile phones require a social security number, or at least a credit history.

Pennsylvania is one of 17 states ranked as being at "high-risk" for voting-machine mishaps by the nonprofit organizations Common Cause and the Verified Voting Foundation. However, state officials and students varied greatly over whether this recent report is cause for concern.

The University announced its master plan earlier this month for a sustainable Neural and Behavioral Sciences building, which is slated to be operational in September 2011. The building will be designed by SmithGroup, an architecture firm with a reputation for sustainable design.

Troy Brown - the man known as the 'screwdriver bandit' for 10 robberies he committed in University City in November 2006 - was sentenced to serve a term of 45 to 80 years in prison on Friday. Brown was convicted on 10 counts of robbery and related offenses in December 2007 for committing a string of robberies using a screwdriver to threaten female victims, two of whom were affiliated with Penn.

SPEC Jazz and Grooves announced last week that Medeski Martin & Wood, or MMW, will perform at its annual spring show on Feb. 19 at 8:30 p.m. in Irvine Auditorium. An American jazz trio formed in Brooklyn in 1991, MMW is composed of John Medeski on the organ and keyboards, Billy Martin on drums and percussion and Chris Wood on acoustic and electric bass.

Although several months still remain before the graduating class walks down the aisle, they have been breaking all records in the Senior Class Gift Drive.

Come this fall, students will likely be able to watch Penn Transit - live from the Web. Schools around the country have implemented GPS tracking devices for their transit systems, allowing students to track the buses and shuttles in real time from any online source, including Web-enabled cell phones.

Now all those Red Bulls Penn students use to help them study all night may serve a higher purpose. Penn for UNICEF is joining forces with the Residential Advisory Board to collect aluminum soda can tabs. The tabs will be donated to the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House, which will sell them to a scrap metal dealer to help pay operational costs.

Need-blind admissions for international students? Not yet for Penn. With Dartmouth College's announcement last month that they would extend need-blind admissions to international students, Penn now stands in the minority of Ivy League schools without such a financial-aid commitment.

For John Rosen, Judaism, the search for human contentment and the need for belonging all have a strong correlation to the migratory patterns of birds. Yesterday, Rosen shared those thoughts with students and faculty members at Kelly Writers House, and later, during a book-signing in Houston Hall to promote his forthcoming book, The Life of the Skies: Judaism, Evolution and the Natural World, which will be released later this month.

But the falling dollar hasn't stopped students from studying in Europe yet, according to director of Penn Abroad Geoffrey Gee.

Flipping through the news channels looking for Super Tuesday coverage, many Penn students probably stopped at CNN. Yesterday at the Annenberg Center, President of CNN/U.S. Jonathan Klein spoke as a guest of the Television Criticism writing seminar. The seminar has previously hosted guests such as President of NBC Steve Capus.