A group of students gather in an open field, at either end of which stand three hula-hoops painted gold and attached to 2x4s. They are holding brooms between their legs, and one team wears capes with black-and-white spots. One person is dressed in yellow with a lumpy sock hanging out of his shorts - he's ready to run.

Experts say a third trial for Irina Malinovskaya is unlikely to win a conviction for the prosecution - and some even suggest that the defense will have a better chance at an acquittal.

History professors with passionate views aren't usually a problem - when it comes to the cause of the Civil War or the Industrial Revolution. But when it comes to politics, some people say opinionated professors may be crossing the line. During its annual meeting last weekend, the American Historical Association - made up of leading historians across the country - took political activism to a whole new level by voting on a resolution that urges its members to oppose the war in Iraq.

Heaps of cake, a Christmas tree bedecked with hand-painted ornaments, online messages and $1 million - these are just some of the gifts that continue to pour in for Kentucky Derby-winner Barbaro, who suffered a significant setback on his road to recovery on Tuesday night.

A recent NASA project has changed the way astronomers think about comets. Before an audience of about 60 people, composed mostly of academics, at the David Rittenhouse Laboratory yesterday afternoon, University of Arizona professor Jay Melosh discussed his role in NASA's Deep Impact mission to Comet Tempel 1 and its results.

College students are notorious for spending hours on their cell phones, stalking their friends on Facebook.com and sending multitudes of e-mails per night. But when it comes to using that technology for research, Educational Testing Services officials say that many students lack the necessary skills to take advantage of all that computers have to offer.

A month ago, a bunch of frat boys could have spent the evening at Smokey Joe's drinking beer and smoking Marlboros. Happy hour might have seen a 9-to-5-er puffing cigarettes as he drowned his sorrows.

Wharton alumna Judith Bollinger and her husband, William, have donated $6 million to the Wharton School, University officials announced yesterday. Half of the Bollingers' gift will be used to establish the Judith and William Bollinger Endowed Scholarship. It will be awarded to Wharton undergraduates, with a preference given to international students.

A new Web site is about to give the University bookstore a run for its money - or so it hopes. Betterthanthebookstore.com - created by two Penn undergraduates in the fall - is providing students with a forum where they can buy and sell used textbooks at relatively inexpensive prices.

A roasted pig's head decorated with pineapples and ripe strawberries rested in the center of the room. Girls in grass skirts and bikini tops distributed leis. "We like to get leied," one tropical-looking girl, Wharton freshman Paula Aranda, said as she placed a flower necklace around one guy's neck.

It wasn't your typical Locust Walk flyerer. No, it was a giant Penn Transit Services shuttle, dancing around and handing out T-shirts to passersby yesterday afternoon. Following the human shuttle was a Transit employee carrying a boom-box, which blasted songs by Iggy Pop and Journey. This spectacle signified the unveiling of Penn Transit's new mascot and campaign to raise on-campus awareness about the company's free bus and shuttle services.

Theft Dec. 22 - A projector and electrical equipment, valued at about $800, were removed from an unlocked room at David Rittenhouse Laboratory at about 10 a.m. Dec. 28 - A complainant unaffiliated with the University reported that 150 bricks were removed from outside of a construction site in the 3900 block of Delancey Street.

While most students flock home for the holidays over winter break, 33 Wharton MBA students chose a different locale - India The group of students visited companies across the country as a part of a class trip, stopping at, among others, Cafe Coffee Day, India's ubiquitous coffee chain, and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Though winter break saw a rash of violent crimes, DPS officials point to an overall drop in crime of three percent from 2005 to 2006 as an indication that campus safety is improving.

For residents living near the South Street Bridge, newer may not always mean better. On Monday night, the Philadelphia Department of Streets sponsored a meeting to discuss the plans and possible ramifications of the remodeling of the South Street Bridge. Construction has been pushed back from its original April 2007 date to this coming October, Schuylkill River Development Corporation CEO Joseph Syrnick said, though he added that it is possible for the construction date to be pushed back even further until spring 2008.

Roch Guerin, an Electrical and Systems Engineering professor, has been named a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, University officials announced Monday. Guerin was honored for his contributions to the resource management of data networks.

Normally, Penn Biology professor Lawrence Rome's academic life consists of teaching classes and researching fish. But when the Navy came calling, he decided to turn his attention to a new pursuit - backpacks. Traditionally an expert on how fish swim, Rome recently finished designing a new "suspended-load ergonomic backpack," which will likely be used by the armed services to lighten the loads carried by soldiers overseas.