Homecoming came a little early at Penn, at least for former University President Judith Rodin.

What could be worse than midterms? Perhaps having your studying interrupted by your laptop bursting into flames.

A potential amendment to the city smoking ban will most likely not bring drastic change to the local bar scene, area bar owners say.

These guys don't care for activism, and they're taking to the streets to make sure everyone knows it. The pack of students holding cardboard signs and marching down Locust Walk yesterday wasn't protesting genocide in Darfur or the war in Iraq - the students were just protesting the act of protesting.

Larry Gagosian, whom Art Review magazine called "the world's greatest art businessman," never actually planned on getting into the art business. In fact, he'll tell you that in any other business, he would be a "complete flop." Gagosian, the owner of six galleries worldwide, joined 1988 Wharton graduate Glenn Fuhrman in Huntsman Hall yesterday evening for a casual conversation on today's art world.

Under questioning by prosecutors, Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya broke down on the witness stand yesterday, weeping.

Facebook.com has joined the registration trend.The social-networking site joined up with non-partisan political organization Rock the Vote yesterday to begin offering a voter registration page through its Web site. Facebook’s move comes just a week after its competitor, MySpace.

Student descriptions of the alarm going off in the bathrooms in Williams Hall range from a high-pitched wail to lower-pitched beeping. Whatever the exact sound is, students agree: It is disruptive and occurs several times a week. They also say the situation has not changed since the beginning of the semester.

About halfway through his 7,000-mile voyage across Central Asia, travel writer Colin Thubron found himself in an ironic situation. Stranded in the town of Maimana, Afghanistan, he had decided to catch a ride on a plane carrying refugees. As he boarded the old aircraft, he noticed quizzical looks coming from the other passengers.

The University got more out of its investments this year than in years past, but it has a long way to go to catch up with its Ivy peers.Penn got a 12.5 percent return on its endowment for the fiscal year ending on June 30, an increase of about four percentage points from last year’s returns, officials announced last week.

Like many students, Nursing sophomore Jessica Plantulli loves her coffee - especially late at night. But unless she learns to brew her own, getting a latte after 1 a.m. might be a bit of a problem.

A proposed federal database for tracking college students could ease the application process and make institutions more accountable - but some say it will come at the cost of student privacy. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced the creation of such a database as one of her priorities last week.

The Class of 2007 is working hard to leave its mark on the University. And if you've seen seniors walking around campus with bright green T-shirts, then you know how they're planning to do it. The shirts are part of an advertising campaign for the Senior Class Gift Drive, a campaign to get every senior to donate money to Penn.

Assault Sept. 30 - An assault at the McDonald's located 3935 Walnut St. resulted in one arrest after a fight between a customer and worker. The customer allegedly went behind the counter and punched the McDonald's employee in the face. Robbery Sept. 25 - Three men were arrested for allegedly attempting to take a cell phone from a person unaffiliated with the University at 3400 Market St.

Danny Panzer is coming clean in exchange for what he hopes will be a ticket to fame - and ultimately fortune - from publicity in as many as 350 newspapers around the globe.

Gathered around a lectern that resembled an oversized electrical outlet, the members of the University City Lighting Consortium prepared to celebrate creating a brighter, safer Philadelphia. "Let this be a neighborhood where the streets have no closing time," Penn President Amy Gutmann said.

For Penn's new top Facilities official, rebuilding lower Manhattan after Sept. 11 has been good preparation for rebuilding University City. From the vast physical size of the projects to the amount of public scrutiny she will likely face, the similarities between memorializing Ground Zero and redeveloping University City are numerous, said Anne Papageorge, who starts at Penn Oct.