Tabard and Owls not secret enough for you? Check out an ancient enclave of the famous Freemasons at the Grand Masonic Lodge Temple in Philadelphia. Located across the street from City Hall at 1 North Broad St., the temple is one of three of its size in the world, said Andrew Zellers-Frederick, executive director of the Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania

Penn may have slipped to 7th in the U.S. News and World Report rankings, but the University's perfect "gay point average" places it at the top of an altogether different list.

After six years of failed tries and much debate, Philadelphia has a smoking ban. Mayor John Street signed a bill yesterday that will prohibit smoking in almost all public places in the city. The ban goes into effect immediately and provides exemptions to a few sets of establishments.

Pennsylvania got a failing mark for the affordability of its colleges earlier this month, according to an annual "report card" by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a nonpartisan think tank based in San Jose, Calif.

Penn has been ranked second in the nation among 25 "Best Neighbor" urban schools recognized for their contributions to their local communities. Created by New England Board of Higher Education president Evan Dobelle, the rankings take into account the length of involvement with the community, the amount of money invested, faculty and students in community service, K-12 school partnerships and resources donated by alumni, among other categories.

Tired of plain-old gas-fueled buses, some are advocating that SEPTA consider a new source of fuel - farm waste.

Penn has been ranked the 9th best university in the nation for black students by Black Enterprise magazine. This ranking puts the University is among the top-rated non-historically black schools. The number one school on the list was Florida A&M; University.

As Wharton students step into class tomorrow, they will be mirroring the school's very first students, who sat down to class 125 years ago on Sept. 15, 1881. But today's students are a little different "Today's Wharton student is more academically talented, more worldly and definitely more sophisticated and poised," said Management professor Eric Siegel, who graduated from the MBA program himself in 1980.

By Francesca Heintz The Daily Pennsylvanian Jurors in the first-degree murder trial of Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya had not been selected as of noon yesterday, but the trial is still scheduled to begin today, a spokeswoman for the district attorney said in the late afternoon.

In a few months, all that will remain of the old Hillel building, a dilapidated brick structure in the center of campus, are photographs, a plaque on the wall of Steinhardt Hall and the memories of alumni and former staff - bad and good.

Featuring anacondas, leeches, screams of both pain and euphoria and a great deal of vomit, the movie Jackass: Number Two lived up to the raucous reputation of the series - and then some. The Social Planning and Events Committee Film Society held a sneak preview of the second installment of Jackass: The Movie yesterday at Annenberg's Zellerbach Theatre.

After a long night of filling out job applications, Engineering senior Jonathan Lehr sat down at 1 a.m. yesterday morning to play some good, old-fashioned video games with his three roommates. "Who's player one? 'Cause I just [expletive] you up," Lehr yelled at his roommates as all of them played the first-person-shooter game Perfect Dark.

No, College Hall was not on fire. The crowd of firefighters and Penn Public Safety officials on College Green yesterday were assembled to perform several demonstrations as part of Campus Fire Safety and Emergency Preparedness Month.

While earning praise from many in higher education as well as newspapers' editorial pages, Harvard University's plan to eliminate its early-action program has left the students who will be actually be affected less than unanimous in their endorsement. The new policy - which Harvard has said is intended to allow lower-income students to compare financial aid packages without being at a disadvantage to students who apply early - will go into effect for the Class of 2012 with a single application deadline on Jan.

Finals week usually brings stress, headaches and sleep deprivation, but for Laura Salcido, it was a time to celebrate.

One hundred University employees are about to become eligible to get a pillbox they won't have to worry about misplacing. Employees with chronic health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol will receive access to a Med-eMonitor System that will alert them when it is time to take medications and tell them how to follow their health care plans.

Stronger community service efforts, improved curricula at local schools and a diverse student body may sound like Christmas in September for many West Philadelphia residents. But such may be the benefit of letting teenagers study what they love, Penn officials say, adding that the ripple effects of a new internationally themed high school in the area could reach beyond the schoolhouse walls and into the surrounding community.