Roughly 8,000 hours from now, I will be graduating. I will be leaving Penn with a bevy of experiences, a slightly different outlook and an Ivy League education - things that will, I hope, guide me well both in life and in this uncertain job market. Yet, despite all of this uncertainty, I am sure of one thing: whoever turns up as our graduation speaker next year will not influence my life that much.

Everyone loves a superhero story – civilians taking a stand against wrong-doers. And let’s be honest, with three shootings in one night, a rape and a rampage in the last two weeks, Philly is starting to sound more like Gotham than the City of Brotherly Love.

e football by storm over the past three years as the dynamic leader of the Gators, just as much of a threat to run with the ball as he is to throw it. While Penn coach Al Bagnoli isn't expecting national titles or hundreds of rushing yards from his quarterbacks (a la Tebow), he does understand that athleticism and mobility are becoming of increased importance under center.

Daniel Schwartz is a rising College senior from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is schwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Brown's President criticizes new bills Ruth Simmons, the President of Brown University, wrote a letter to students last week expressing her opposition to legislation facing the Rhode Island state legislature that would allow cities and towns to levy taxes on colleges and universities.

On June 4, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter received a Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community Award from the League of American Bicyclists. According to the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the award is a symbol of Philadelphia's progress in becoming a more bike-friendly city.

Looking back on another spectacular season that ended in heartbreak for the women's lacrosse team, coach Karin Brower still has a lot to be happy about.

Last Saturday, the Casino-Free Philadelphia Twitter feed read, "Today, we brought our communities to their casino. We beat the house. And we'll be back." The tweet marked the end of an event called Beat the House, during which 100 trained anti-casino protesters sat inside and around Harrah's Chester Casino in Chester, Pa.

Harvard University announced it will create the first endowed professorship for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies in the United States. "This is an extraordinary moment in Harvard's history and in the history of this rapidly emerging field," Harvard Overseer Mitchell Adams said in a press release.

University President Amy Gutmann and Interim Provost Vincent Price announced today that Shelley Berger has been appointed as the tenth Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor. Berger will hold appointments in the School of Medicine's Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and the School of Arts and Sciences' Department of Biology.

Man, was that fun. Along with thousands of my Phillies brethren, I made the trek down to the Big Apple and Citi Field for Tuesday night's heavyweight bout between the Fightins and the hated New York Mets - the two contenders in a budding local rivalry that is gaining steam nationally.

Remember when you'd open your mail box, excited to be receiving anything, --only to be disappointed by yet another credit card offer? These spam-like letters arrived from all sorts of places, from department stores to gas companies. Most stores still offer every customer the opportunity to register for a store benefits credit card.

Contact lens-wearers should not get too adjusted to being frame-free. According to the results of a new study, an alarming majority of people wear their contacts beyond the recommended usage time, making them susceptible to several health risks. The study, which surveyed 1,654 contact wearers, was commissioned by CIBA VISION and spearheaded by School of Medicine professor David Sarwer.

On June 8, the death of a 26-year-old Philadelphia woman was reported to be the first death related to complications from swine flu in the city, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health's Division of Disease Control. Philadelphia Department of Public Health spokesman Jeff Moran described the woman as already "very ill" at the time of her hospitalization before succumbing to complications of a novel H1N1 influenza last Sunday.

Former adjunct law professor Ken Feinberg has been appointed by the Obama administration to oversee the compensation of executives at financial companies receiving government bailout money. Feinberg taught one class per year titled "Mass Torts" from the 1998-1999 academic year through the 2004-2005 academic year, according to Penn Law spokesperson Mark Eyerly.

This fall, Penn's Organizational Dynamics department in the School of Arts and Sciences plans to introduce a new Organizational Consulting and Executive Coaching concentration to its Master of Science degree in Organizational Dynamics. Those who complete the 18-month course of study will receive an OCEC Certificate in addition to the Masters degree.

The offices of the President and the Provost announced earlier this week that Karen Glanz has been appointed as the ninth Penn Integrates Knowledge professor, the first in the School of Nursing. Her appointment will be shared between the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing, and she will lead a new center focused on research and training in health behaviors, according to a University press release.