The Student Activities Council announced yesterday that it plans to give annual budgets to political groups for non-partisan and non-candidate-related purposes starting in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. The move will give regular SAC funding to political groups for the first time, explained College junior and SAC chairwoman Natalie Vernon.

The Spring Fling subcommittee of the Social Planning and Events Committee decided on the theme "Some Flings Never Get Old" for Fling 2009. Fling committee member and College freshman Garrett Albanesius came up with the theme, but he could not be reached for comment.

As of this week, a cab ride to Center City will cost a little bit less. The 50-cent gas surcharge taxis began charging in June was recently nixed in response to dropping gas prices. The Philadelphia Parking Authority's board voted to drop the extra charge - which raised the base fare from $2.

Family and friends of Ryan Smith, the Engineering sophomore who fell from the Quadrangle Saturday morning, have told University officials they do not believe the fall was a suicide attempt. University spokeswoman Lori Doyle confirmed the identity of Smith, a Digital Media Design major, Monday afternoon.

November saw a continuation of crime trends from earlier this year - violent crime and overall crime are both down significantly from 2007, but some types of property crime have risen. Violent crimes, like robberies and assaults, are down 39 percent for the year, according to the Division of Public Safety.

The South Street Bridge will close at 9:30 a.m. on Monday so Driscoll Construction Company can begin its projected two-year reconstruction of the bridge. Since the entire structure will be demolished, no traffic - cars, bicycles or pedestrians - will be able to use the bridge after Monday morning.

Breyten Breytenbach grasped the edges of the podium with a stack of his books before him. "We poets are lucky, we don't carry too much luggage. We can carry our tortuous lives in 500 pages." Breytenbach delivered a reading of his printed "luggage" at the Kelly Writers House Arts Café last night as part of KWH's new "Writers without Borders" series.

Wharton students celebrated the end of classes in style yesterday with the school's third annual Winter Whartonland. The Wharton Council and Wharton's cohort mentors marked the last Thursday of classes with hot chocolate, Insomnia Cookies, holiday candy and Wharton-branded gifts at the event in Huntsman Hall.

The closest most Penn students have ever come to hunting is probably watching Looney Tunes' Elmer Fudd try to catch that "wascally wabbit." But this past Monday, when most were still recovering from their post-Thanksgiving celebrations - or beginning to study for finals - high school students throughout Pennsylvania got the day off in honor of the first day of deer-hunting season.

December 3, 2008 Dear Members of Our University Community: Earlier this semester, I wrote to you regarding the turmoil in the American capital and credit markets, and how this economic instability was affecting our University. Since the time of that communication, the volatility of the economy has continued unabated.

You might have seen students studying you as you passed by on Locust Walk last month, but don't worry - it wasn't because you were having a bad hair day. Students in professor Paul Rozin's Psychology 001 class conducted a "racial association" study which found that, despite Penn's diverse student body, people on campus tend to spend time with others of the same ethnicity.

Former Economics professor Rafael Robb is appealing his five- to 10-year prison sentence for killing his wife, Ellen, in 2006. Robb's attorney, Frank DeSimone, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he filed a motion for reconsideration because he felt Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Paul Tressler misinterpreted the motive of a letter Robb sent to his 14-year-old daughter, Olivia.

Tragedy abroad brought Penn's religious groups together in remembrance. Yesterday evening, students and staff gathered in Claudia Cohen Hall for an interfaith memorial to honor the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Speeches and prayers were heard from representatives of the religious groups on campus.

The forthcoming discontinuation of 18 research specialist positions at the Penn Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, which was announced last Friday, may stem from reasons other than the financial crisis. According to several researchers who declined to use their names due to the situation's sensitivity, the economy's downturn is simply the trigger behind the changes, which they say are due to long-standing University and museum priorities that do not emphasize scientific and historical research.

Scott Mackler is the living future of medical technology. Mackler, a researcher in Penn's Departments of Medicine and Pharmocology, was diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in May of 1999. The disease causes motor brain cells to degenerate, eventually debilitating all mobility,

The number of Early Decision applications decreased for the third year in a row, admissions officials announced yesterday. This year, 3,610 students applied early to Penn - an almost 8-percent drop from last year's 3,917 early applications. As in years past, about 30 percent of this year's Early Decision applicants will be accepted, said Dean o

Anne Waters will become the new executive director of the Office of International Programs today, Provost Ron Daniels announced in a press release on Monday. In her new position, Waters will lead the Penn Abroad and International Student and Scholar Services offices, as well as other programs that provide the Penn community with international services.