Although Penn climbed the moral ladder in the Washington Monthly’s annual “public good” ranking by jumping from 34th place to the 21st this year, many faculty and administrators remained unsatisfied.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded Benjamin Horton, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, a $1.5 million grant to improve the prediction of coastal flooding caused by hurricanes and sea-level rising.

Barring any unlikely setbacks, the University is set to reach its $3.5-billion goal in the “Making History” fundraising campaign before 2012 begins, Penn President Amy Gutmann said.

Penn has put up a paradise where there was once a parking lot, but will students and the surrounding community return to this Eden once its gates open?

The new softball field and outdoor tennis courts will be a major selling point to recruits.

Men’s club soccer captain Ben Wang recalls a spring day last year when field space was so limited, the team held practice on varsity baseball’s batting cage field. That will no longer be a problem with Penn Park.

Penn’s seasonal air structure will provide a large, heated space for use during the winter months — an amenity Penn has never experienced. difficult to simulate game-like situations.

Like a faint electric buzz, excitement about new ways to use technology is permeating throughout campus. As your tech columnist, I’ll be doing my best to make you aware of some of the cooler stuff going on.

I’ll tell you why we really get fat. You might not like it. You probably won’t believe me either. But after reading some outstanding work by science writer Gary Taubes, I’m a die-hard believer.

As Penn Park opens and you explore its many fine qualities, I hope it fills you with pride.

Since the 1970s, the Perelman School of Medicine has allowed students to complete an MBA and medical degree within five years.

While some Penn students have expressed concern about a similar ban, “nothing has ever come up in a conversation with upper level administrators, fraternity and sorority life or any national organization leadership,” said Wharton senior Harry Heyer, president of the Interfraternity Council.

In addition to educating students about safety issues, the fair also aimed to increase participation and awareness about DPS programs and initiatives, in part because the division saw low freshman enrollment in several of these programs during New Student Orientation, according to Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush.

The Campus Loop Bus will operate between the Levy Tennis Pavilion in Penn Park and 40th Street between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Crime log for the week of Sept. 2-Sept. 8

Penn Haven — a housing cooperative and community at 40th and Chestnut streets — emphasizes sustainable lifestyles and activism.

This summer saw 7 percent more crime than last summer, but robbery and theft saw significant decreases.