Student financial-aid records have been helping to fight the war on terror for the past five years - but without students' knowledge. The Department of Education acknowledged last week that one of its offices had been running a program, which was discontinued last June, that searched for evidence of terrorist activity via financial-aid records.

City Council President Anna Verna can order a special election to fill three vacant Council seats as early as today, but several local groups are calling the process undemocratic. Because Verna announced the election in August - therefore eliminating the possibility of a primary - ward leaders, not voters, will select the party nominees.

Council President Anna Verna's announcement of a Nov. 7 special election for the three vacant City Council seats seemed like good news for Florence Cohen. The 88-year-old widow of late Councilman David Cohen would have a chance to finish the term of her husband, who died in office last fall at the age of 90.

By Meagan Steiner The Daily Pennsylvanian Trade in crowded frat parties for some classy schmoozing along the banks of the Schuylkill River this weekend. Although, like frat parties, the "Rockin' on the River" concert series on the Schuylkill River banks features dancing, alcohol and free admission.

College freshman Douglas Halperin got in to Penn during the most competitive admissions season in the University's history.

Although their tastes in music might be very different, there is one thing many Penn students can have in common: a sleek software called iTunes that sells millions of digital songs. But a new program is trying to compete. Having dominated the digital music industry - and the laptops of Penn students - for the past several years, iTunes may soon be challenged by the social-networking Web site MySpace.

Ex-Wharton professor emeritus Scott Ward likely won't be going home anytime soon, despite his option to post $2 million bail, legal experts say. Even if he is willing to pay, experts say the decision to grant bail could be overturned, and there is still the matter of the separate charges that he faces in Pennsylvania.

On the third floor of the Stouffer College House Annex live 13 students interested in public service. But the first floor of the building - with a pool table, TV area and large lounge room - resembles a fraternity house more than a dorm. And next year, a fraternity may actually return to claim the house as its own.

You can't check out these new professors on Penn Course Review, but you might want to look into their classes. The new faculty members - most of whom previously taught at other universities - have come to Penn to share their expertise in fields ranging from political science to the modern Middle East to Romance languages.

With the first week of the semester under their belts, administrators and students are starting to buckle down to discuss the fate of Hey Day. But nobody's sure exactly what they want to say. Discussions are set to begin within the next two weeks. The Office of the Vice Provost for University Life is planning to work with both the junior class board and other members of the Class of 2008 to make the annual tradition "safe and fun," according to Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, head of VPUL.

A Philadelphia smoking ban - long discussed and passed by City Council this summer - may have again hit a snag. Mayor John Street has recently voiced concern about the bill and says he is considering vetoing the legislation by Thursday's deadline. His main complaint is that the ban does not extend to outdoor cafes, though some attribute his failure to sign this and previous legislation on the issue to personal differences between himself and former Councilman Michael Nutter, a proponent of smoking-ban legislation who is currently running for mayor.

Just six months after her office brought the national media spotlight to Penn's campus - more specifically, to its dorm room windows - Office of Student Conduct Director Michele Goldfarb quietly resigned her post this summer.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Bail for former Wharton professor emeritus Scott Ward was set at $2 million yesterday, as prosecutors sought a tougher ruling and the defense called evidence into question.

Former Duke University anthropologist John Jackson has arrived at Penn to kick off Penn Integrates Knowledge, the University's initiative to recruit faculty members who will have appointments in multiple departments. Jackson will be teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in both the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Arts and Sciences, where he will share his research on issues of race, religion, class and the impact of the media in contemporary America.

The number of burglaries and sex offenses during New Student Orientation rose this year, while police reported a precipitous drop in the number of thefts. Overall, crime during NSO was down from the same period last year, but officials from Penn's Division of Public Safety say the drop is insignificant.

Students crowd the economics aisle of the bookstore on the first day of classes.