Unlike most Penn students, Wharton seniors Jason Toff and Kelly Schaefer spent their summer nights chatting online with Indian programmers.

For Penn Dining, the opportunity to link with professional services giant Aramark six years ago was supposed to bring much-needed improvements to the University's dining services.

When it comes to funding construction, America's biomedical-research colleges may be approaching the perfect storm. Nationwide, medical schools have continued to engage in ambitious expansion projects with the expectation that federal funding will help foot the bill.

Newsflash: Bringing your A-game in a round of Halo doesn't translate to an A on your Econ midterm. In a recent year-long study, researchers surveyed incoming freshmen at Berea College in Kentucky and found that students who brought video-game systems to school earned a lower GPA than their non-gaming classmates.

WILMINGTON, Del. - It was deja vu all over again as the third murder trial for Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya began yesterday at the New Castle Co. courthouse.

When the Covenant - the red, cylindrical statue on Locust Walk - was erected in 1975, students called it "obnoxiously spastic" and reminiscent of "cosmic soda straws." Now, students just call it the Dueling Tampons. And that's what 1996 College graduate Matt Rosler calls his Web site: Duelingtampons.

Scientists often joke that, instead of having a genie grant three wishes, they'd just prefer three grants. Well, scientists engaging in interdisciplinary research might not have to bother with the genie anymore. The National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research announced last week funding of $210 million over five years for nine interdisciplinary research consortia nationwide.

The Barnes Foundation's world-renowned art collection is slated for a move that will bring the works closer to other prominent cultural institutions - and nearer to Penn students as well. Last week, the Barnes acquired a site on Benjamin Franklin Parkway near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rodin Museum.

If you've never heard of Ben Kweller, you're not alone. Only five out of 62 Penn students surveyed by The Daily Pennsylvanian said they were familiar with this year's pick for the Social Planning and Events Committee's fall concert. Set to perform on Oct.

Last week, both houses of Congress passed a comprehensive student-aid bill that considerably raises the maximum Pell grant and halves the interest rate students pay on federal loans.

The management of El Azteca was fed up with the vomit, the dining and dashing and the missing sombreros - all symptoms of having a drunken, college-age clientele. So the famous -or perhaps notorious - margarita-making restaurant at 7th and Chestnut streets took action last December.

A new apartment building opening means new retail options for Penn students and the community. Domus, which is opening its doors at 34th and Chestnut streets to residents this fall, has confirmed four of the five retailers that will occupy its ground floor.

Nursing senior Eric Bowles not only finished the race, but his record - 10 hours, 6 minutes - earned him first place in the 18 to 24 age group in the Louisville qualifying round.

Part four in a four-part series Quantifying QualityThis week, the 'DP' looks at the history and impact of the 'U.S. News' rankingsMonday: Penn's rise through the rankingsTuesday: An analysis of ranking criteriaYesterday: The history of the rankingsToday: 'U.

Chair and professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology Brian Strom has been appointed vice dean for institutional affairs in the School of Medicine and senior adviser to the provost for global health initiatives, according to a press release from the Office of the Provost.

The Quadrangle is undergoing minor external renovations, highlighted by the replacement of the original wraught-iron fence that was erected in 1954. The $1.2 million project is scheduled for completion in mid-December and includes the complete replacement of the fence and its brick and sandstone foundations.

High illegal downloading rates and a whole network of young, powerless culprits to put the pressure on - for the Recording Industry Association of America, it seems that college students are the perfect criminals. The RIAA has pushed yet another onslaught of lawsuits against students over the last six months, with over 3,000 pre-litigation letters sent out to college campuses across the country.