Legal Studies and Business Ethics professor Kevin Werbach is serving on President-elect Barack Obama's transition team. Werbach, who was a technology policy advisor to Obama during the campaign, is the co-leader of the Agency Review Team for the Federal Communications Commission.

Penn professors are using their knowledge outside of the classroom - this month, some traveled as far as the Middle East to help draft solutions to major world problems. These faculty members, including Penn President Amy Gutmann, went to Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates, to meet with other members of new World Economic Forum councils.

Former Economics professor Rafael Robb will be sentenced today at the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas for killing his wife, Ellen, in December 2006. Lawyers for Rafael Robb - who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter last November - are expected to argue that Ellen Robb's mental health at the time is a reason he should receive a relatively light sentence.

Former Economics professor Rafael Robb will serve five to 10 years in prison and 10 years probation for killing his wife, Ellen, in December 2006.

Two Penn grads have been tapped to lead the biggest financial bailout plan in history. Assistant U.S. attorney and 1992 Penn alumnus Neil Barofsky appeared before the Senate last night after President George Bush nominated him as the special inspector general of the Treasury's Troubled Assets Relief Program.

When the South Street Bridge closes for reconstruction in December, traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway will worsen and fewer taxicabs will prowl the streets of University City. But on the bright side, results from an ongoing traffic study indicate that the bridge is mainly used for short trips between University City and Center City - so most of its traffic can be diverted to the Walnut or Chestnut Street bridges.

Penn President Amy Gutmann and her husband, Columbia law professor Michael Doyle, have made a $100,000 contribution toward undergraduate resources at Penn. The donation will be split between the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships and the senior-class gift program.

Despite its earlier efforts, putting syllabi online continues to be a pipe dream for the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education. In a meeting last week, the Provost's Council of Undergraduate Deans announced that the Online Syllabi Initiative SCUE has been pushing for the past three years will not be feasible until at least 2010.

"Work hard, play hard," may be many students' motto, but deciding where to draw that line can be difficult. Balancing more enjoyable extracurricular activities with schoolwork can jeopardize academic performance, but some students say it's worth the consequences.

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Bienvenidos a Penn. Or at least that's the message the University hopes to convey with a new initiative to produce admissions materials in Spanish. The materials will be intended for Penn parents who speak little or no English. The Latino Coalition, Undergraduate Assembly, International Student Council and Office of Undergraduate Admissions are working together on the initiative.

With the opening of the new CVS at 3925 Walnut St., beer pong just got a little more convenient. The new location under the Radian - which opened yesterday - is one of the only CVS branches in the area to stock ping pong balls, along with the 25,000 other items usually found in the convenience stores, manager Jim Esmond said.

The highlight of Wharton junior Ashley Gunn's summer was spending an hour talking to President Bush. "He answered questions off-the-record and was completely candid and honest," she said. Gunn - who was one of only 100 summer interns to volunteer at the White House - earned this conversation while working with the National Economic Counsel, mostly researching renewable energy and the housing bill.

During his pediatrics clinical, Nursing senior Colin Plover discovered that hiding the needle is an important tactic when giving a child a shot. Like Plover, all nursing students need to fulfil a specific number of hours of patient-care clinicals in order to graduate, helping them gain hands-on experience.

Despite rumors that Alpha Chi Omega's annual Big Man on Campus philanthropy event was going to be cancelled this year, the event is expected to occur as planned this Thursday evening The participating students have signed a pledge not consume alcohol during the pageant and several members of Alpha Chi Omega national headquarters will be present to supervise the event, said Wharton senior and Interfraternity Council President David Ashkenazi.

Retail options have greatly expanded in University City over the past decade - but not necessarily with just Penn students in mind. The stores and restaurants opening under the Radian this fall are representative of the area's growth in recent years, but some students still long for a wider range of retail offerings.

In the penultimate Undergraduate Assembly meeting of the year, held on Sunday evening, sustainability was a main focus. During the open forum, no outside student groups brought forth issues, but several internal issues were discussed. College sophomore Alec Webley confirmed that renovations on DuBois College House will happen this summer and also announced the recent purchase of a new Web site domain name for the UA - a budget request that was approved at last week's meeting.