Last Friday, the Blackstone Group and AlliedBarton Security Services announced that the private equity fund managed by Blackstone will acquire AlliedBarton, a security company that has over 50,000 employees throughout the United States. The details of the pending

A rape was reported involving two 17-year-old high school students on Penn's campus, according to Philadelphia police. The rape was reported to have occurred in a dorm on the 3700 block of Spruce Street at about 6:20 p.m. on July 23. According to Capt. John Darby of the Special Vitims Unit, the two students knew each other and have both given statements to the police.

A new copy of Oxtoby's Principles of Modern Chemistry costs $205 at the Penn Bookstore, and an electronic version is $103.99 at coursesmart.com. But some students get their copies for free - by illegally downloading them from file-hosting Web sites and peer-to-peer networks.

After 21 years at Penn, Ilene Rosenstein, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, is leaving Penn to take on the position of director of the University of Southern California's counseling services. Although this is her final week at Penn, she will have two weeks of vacation before her official last day on Aug.

The number of DUI arrests made in Philadelphia has increased this year as a result of increased vigilance by the city's police department. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the Philadelphia Police Department's Accident Investigation Division reports that DUI arrests this year have increased by more than 700 since the same time last year.

The University announced yesterday the appointment of stem cell expert John Gearhart as the eighth Penn Integrates Knowledge professor and director of the Institute of Regenerative Medicine. Gearhart is the James Effron University Professor, and he will join the faculty of both the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the School of Medicine and the Department of Animal Biology in the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Thanks to a policy of Penn's Division of Public Safety, if you've failed to properly lock up your bicycle on campus, you may find it waiting for you in the custody of the Penn Police. DPS has a policy of taking unattended and unsecured bicycles on campus without the owner's knowledge.

Although it has only been three weeks since new Dean of Admissions Eric Furda took over, changes are already evident in the Admissions Office. Furda, who began July 1, appointed two new vice-deans to serve as his seconds-in-command and has "restructured" the department to be more streamlined and efficient, he said.

This fall, the Middle East is coming to Walnut Street - or at least its cuisine is. The locally-owned restaurant Hummus - which will serve a variety of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine - will open within 10 days, said owner Fabrice Saadoun. The restaurant building is located at 40th and Walnut, situated between the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and the yet-to-be-completed Radian.

Several shots were fired inside the parking garage located at 40th and Walnut streets early Sunday morning. There were no injuries, but Shannon McKnight, 22, was arrested in connection with the incident. According to Division of Public Safety spokeswoman Stefanie Cella, Penn Police officers on patrol heard gunfire at 1:29 a.

A Twin Cities radio station has found its very own twin in the University of Pennsylvania's WXPN. Minnesota Public Radio's The Current and Penn's WXPN have teamed up to share local music through The Music Exchange, a new program that will feature the music of up-and-coming bands in Philadelphia and the Twin Cities - Minneapolis and St.

In the cold of January 1983, Judy Wicks brought home cooking to new heights when she opened a humble take-out coffee and muffin shop on the first floor of her residence at 3420 Sansom St. 25 years later, White Dog Cafe is commemorating its past with a year-long celebration of the restaurant and its social and environmental activism.

Northwestern University School of Law's decision to offer a quicker route to graduation - a two-year alternative to its traditional three-year program - is spurring debate about legal education. The accelerated program - the third of its kind in the country and the first at a top-tier school - compresses the same number of credits into five semesters for 25 to 60 students who will enroll alongside about 240 traditional students.

Theft July 17 - A male student, 20, reported that an unknown suspect removed money from an unsecured room in the Quadrangle at about 2:45 p.m. July 17 - A male student, 22, reported that an unknown suspect removed his secured bicycle from a meter outside Levine Hall at about 11:45 p.

With about 2.1 million adults infected worldwide in 2007 alone, HIV - the virus that causes AIDS - is the focus of research across the globe. Researchers at Penn have joined the many involved with efforts that may lead to a decrease in the rate of infection.

A fire broke out at 4044-46 Walnut St. on Saturday evening, causing no injuries but displacing three Penn students. According to Director of Operations and External Affairs at the Division of Public Safety Stefanie Cella, the cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

University City has received excellent marks in all subjects on its 2008 District Report Card. According to the report, in the last 10 years UCD has seen a 20-percent decrease in crime , a 16.5-percent increase in employment, improvements in pedestrian lighting and numerous green initiatives.