Historic Philadelphia isn't just about documents and cracked bells - the city's past is full of spooks, thrills and ghosts, too. In celebration of Halloween, some of the city's oldest institutions are offering a variety of events showcasing Philadelphia's frightening past.

There are 12 multicultural fraternities and sororities on campus, most of them small. Recruitment can be difficult, members say. One sorority last year only had one member, who has since graduated and left the organization empty at Penn. But another multicultural sorority has popped up this year, and this one thinks it can survive.

Globalization may be an international phenomenon, but it is wrenching control from local governments and shaping political participation in democracies, three professors said yesterday. Political Science professor Jack Nagel, Anthropology professor Brian Spooner and Management professor Gerald McDermott discussed the impact of international economics on democracy before a small group of students and community members.

If Benjamin Franklin were still alive, Skirkanich Hall would be his favorite building on campus, Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt predicted. Nicknamed Penn's "miracle on 33rd Street" by University President Amy Gutmann, Skirkanich officially opened yesterday.

Penn Medical Professor Helen Davies has received an award for her work in medical education. The Association of American Medical Colleges is honoring the microbiology professor with the Alpha Omega Alpha award. Davies has been teaching for 40 years, and she was the first female member of Penn Medicine's Microbiology Department.

Standing in the Penn Law building that carries his name, Henry Silverman called himself "the poster boy for overpaid executives." But Silverman, who will earn about $140 million this year according to Forbes.com, said being a CEO is not all "peaches and cream.

In Israel, reporters for Haaretz fought public opinion to fairly present both sides of the security situation there. In Sierra Leone, a struggling network of radio stations pooled their resources and improvised with what little equipment they had to cover the country's 2002 elections and ensure fair voting.

Hundreds of Penn basketball fans gather at World Cafe Live last night after word went out around 9:15 p.m. that the venue would be hosting this year's Line. The tradition will culminate next Saturday with a collective trip to the Penn-Princeton football game.

Philadelphia's three Tower Records stores will soon shut down due to lack of revenue, but students say they won't notice the absence of the once-landmark stores. Tower Records stores across the country, about 100 locations listed on the chain's Web site, are closing due to bankruptcy, a probable byproduct, experts say, of increased online music sales.

If hydrogen power is the way of the future, then Iceland is ahead of its time, according to Hjalti Pall Ingolfsson. Ingolfsson, project leader of Icelandic New Energy Ltd., spoke in Houston Hall yesterday on the future of hydrogen power and said Iceland is leading the way in using renewable energy sources, such as hydrogen and geothermal power, due to governmental support and natural resources.

The Director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology announced that he is stepping down to pursue other interests, effective Nov. 1. Richard Leventhal will stay on the School of Arts and Sciences faculty as a professor of anthropology and will remain a curator for the museum, he said.

Next fall, the first step to recovery for drug and alcohol addicts could be swiping into Harrison College House.

University trustees plan to discuss issues ranging from Student Health Services to faculty retention as they convene for their fall meetings today. Sixty current board members and 30 former ones plan to partake in the meetings, according to University Secretary Leslie Kruhly.

The man some have credited with ending the Vietnam War is coming to Penn. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger - a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - will speak at Irvine Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14.

Lots of Penn students dream of big futures, but members of the Penn Nanotech Society are dreaming on a much, much smaller scale. Yesterday, the group joined with the Penn Nano/Bio Interface Center to host "Nano Day," a series of presentations designed to dispel myths and increase awareness of tiny technology.

Imagine your girlfriend, your roommate, your class president, that kid sitting next to you in biology class. Imagine that only four years after you leave Penn, one of those students will be on the floor of Congress, teaming up with Nancy Pelosi and arguing against Dennis Hastert.

Penn professor Richard Gelles was once hired by Philadelphia's Department of Health Services, but now he says he'll testify against city officials to help clean the department up. Gelles, dean of Penn's School of Social Policy and Practice, will likely be heavily involved with the fallout of a DHS scandal regarding neglect of children as government officials investigate the department in the coming months.