Although Penn is making significant strides, the fact that in 2011 our campus still emphasizes how “gay-friendly” it is seems very redundant and counterproductive to the entire movement.

Upon stepping into Penn Park, it becomes clear that the space is dedicated to serve a purpose — to provide a space for organized games, and not for simple lounging. It’s not so much a park as a collection of fields.

Bounded by the cement and steel of urban traffic ways, Penn Park — which opened to fireworks and celebration on Sept. 15 — marks a historical development in Penn’s eastward expansion.

Thirteen of Penn’s 30 Interfraternity Council chapters will recruit sophomores and transfer students this semester. The number of fraternities participating in fall rush has increased from nine last year.

Of the many aspects of government spending up for debate in the current 2012 fiscal year budget negotiations, the continued funding for grant-giving organizations such as the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation could be cut — a concerning prospect for Penn administrators.

Over the past four years, textbook prices have risen 22 percent, according to a survey by the Student Public Interest Research Group.

Students flocked to the fairs in hopes of making contacts, securing interviews and gaining job and summer internship opportunities.

Yesterday evening, Zell offered around 300 students an unobstructed view of the thoughts and habits of one of the most successful businesspeople of the last half century ­— as he put it, “the world according to Sam.”

While the competition was developed well before the Provost’s office announced the 2011-2012 theme of “the Year of Games,” Dean of the Nursing School Afaf Meleis is excited to promote the competition under the theme.

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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.