At first glance, cosmology - or the study of the universe - and particle physics - the study of subatomic particles and the forces affecting them - have little in common due to size differences. However, the Physics and Astronomy Department has undertaken a new program to allow cosmologists and particle physicists to assist each other in solving some of physics' thorniest problems.

Penn is taking its initiative to help the environment beyond the dining halls to the food trucks on campus. The Undergraduate Assembly is working with the Penn Environmental Group to encourage food trucks to use environmentally friendly containers rather than Styrofoam.

The person sitting nearby in the library promising to keep an eye on a laptop during a Mark's Café break may not be as trustworthy as he seems - and the Undergraduate Assembly is trying to make students more aware of that. In efforts to combat a jump in laptop theft on campus over the last few years, the UA recently unveiled a pilot laptop-lock program in Van Pelt Library.

President Barack Obama's stimulus plan may provide funds for the Philadelphia Police Department to hire additional officers. The bill, which was signed into law last week, allocates $1 billion nationally for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services of the U.

While Penn students are expected to be proficient in English, no such requirement is made for their parents. To help with this dilemma, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions has been attempting to make the entire admissions process easier for prospective students' parents who are not fluent in English by providing admissions and financial-aid information in Spanish, one of the most common native languages for international students.

"For most, leadership is an acquired skill," said Michael Useem, director of the Wharton Leadership Center, during the preceptorial he hosted with University President Amy Gutmann yesterday. The preceptorial, entitled "Essence of Leadership," took place at 4:30 p.

Though the state of the economy will likely increase requests for financial aid, most private colleges and universities, including Penn, are committed to maintaining their financial-aid policies and initiatives. The schools that have pledged to maintain financial-aid initiatives have been counteracting reduced budgets by pulling funds from other areas, which has resulted in firing administration and faculty members, cutting programs and freezing faculty

One-third of U.S. university nursing programs did not integrate international health into their curricula as recently as 2007, according to Wipada Kunaviktikul, but the School of Nursing is not one of them. The Nursing School kicked off its third-annual Global Health Reflections Week yesterday with a presentation by Kunaviktikul, a research fellow at Harvard University and a professor at Chiang Mai University in Thailand.

Opponents of the proposed Campus Inn extended-stay hotel project at 40th and Pine streets will have to wait a little longer to make their case. Their appeal of a Historical Commission decision allowing the project to move forward was scheduled to be heard yesterday before the Department of Licenses & Inspections Review Board.

With a billion-dollar budget gap to fill, city officials are asking West Philadelphian residents for help. Last night, The Penn Project for Civic Engagement hosted the fourth and final city-budget consultation forum in West Philadelphia. In line with the past meetings, more than 500 local residents attended to contribute to the budget decision-making that will soon start at City Hall.

On Sunday, the Undergraduate Assembly mulled over a policy update addressing the exclusion of American Sign Language from the Wharton language requirement before moving to internal affairs. While both the College and Nursing recognize ASL as a valid language for the requirement, Wharton does not.

In what may turn your friend, your mom or even you into a modern-day Big Brother, Google's newest application, Latitude, allows you to broadcast your exact location to your friends and family. Available for any computer and on certain smartphones that are GPS-enabled, the application utilizes information from GPS satellites and cell towers to pinpoint a user's location.

For Engineering and Wharton sophomore Prateek Bhide, a day doesn't go by without hearing his classmates talk about grades. Though competition prepares students for future careers, he said, "most of the people I talk to in the workforce say GPA doesn't matter in the real world in getting

There's a light at the end of the reconstruction of South Street Bridge for the many students and city residents who have changed their commuting routines since the bridge's closure. When drafting the latest plans for the new bridge, developers opted for a pedestrian-friendly design, a fact that pleases many weary Penn commuters.

In the face of the typical year-end onslaught of high-fat foods and rich holiday meals, some Penn employees left family gatherings lacking something - extra weight. The "Maintain, Don't Gain" program, run by the Health Promotion and Wellness division of Human Resources' Quality of Worklife Department , challenged participants to keep their weight after New Year's within two to three pounds of their starting weight as measured on the day before Thanksgiving.

Although the Class of 2009 will graduate to a fiercely competitive job market, its Commencement speaker happens to head a company that annually tops Fortune magazine's "Best Places to Work" list. Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive officer and chairman, will speak at the 253rd Commencement Ceremonies on May 18 at Franklin Field.

Remember when you threw up last Friday? So does the guy who responded to the 911 call, and he's in your math class. Groups designed to have students help their peers provide valuable services, but also raise privacy concerns and may create uncomfortable situations.